The Moraga Tennis and Swim Club property off Larch Avenue may get a poolside resuscitation from a local couple hoping to breathe new life – and adapted, updated usage – to the 70’s era recreational property.
Underutilized and neglected, the property was largely abandoned by neighborhood swimmers who gave it the heave ho for other, better equipped facilities and more competitive swim clubs and is looking a little rundown. But local broker Dave Schnayer, who specializes in finding suitable properties for people with vision, says a Walnut Creek company known to many in Lamorinda is interested in bringing their program to Moraga and in sprucing up the Swim and Tennis Club site for possible future use.
“It’s very early in the process and everyone is doing the necessary due diligence,” Schnayer said Friday. “But it’s an underutilized site with existing infrastructure in line with what the camp does. And they have ideas that would open up the site to others besides those looking for a swim or tennis experience.”
Preliminary talks have indicated that the club’s new occupants would pattern the operation after the “multigenerational” recreational offering currently in use in Pleasant Hill, with organized activities, lessons and sports for people of all ages and abilities, Schnayer said.
“I’m hearing things like water calisthenics for seniors, cooking classes, archery, a ropes course,” he explained. “There’s really not a lot to do in terms of construction since the tennis courts and pool are in place – just looking a little tired and dated. A sand volleyball court was mentioned…”
Schnayer said a potential deal has been in the offing for some time but that everything remains in the preliminary stages. All parties, he said, are “running the numbers” though the thought is it wouldn’t take much to get started. The camp business is currently a summer only operation, Schnayer said, and the company is hoping to make their offering available year round.
Moraga Tennis & Swim Club was built in 1973. Owned by Terry and Linda Gong, who lived in the area and who wanted to make a swim club available to local kids – the private facility was beloved by its members – who were ultimately distressed to hear that the Gongs planned to sell. Accessed via a driveway off Larch Avenue, the club came under some criticism in 2010 when neighbors complained of parking and noise issues during swim meets.
But given the nearly constant drumbeat of demand for recreational fields and space for local sports, it will be interesting to see what the parties involved in this the latest phase of the club’s life will make of it.
