Karakung Swim Club

Come with me if you want to swim!!!

As you all know, Tropical Storm Isaias stormed through Haverford Township last Tuesday with damaging winds and record-setting rain (over 8 fell in Wynnewood!). Guess where all the rain went? To the creek right next to Karakung Swim Club! As you have already heard, the gushing river destroyed the footbridge connecting the parking lot to the club. The rapids overflowed from the creek and went into both the baby pool and the main pool. The before and after photos below show t...he club during and immediately after the storm, and the club as it looks today. During the past week, the pool management, lifeguards, desk attendants, board members and others have worked tirelessly to reclaim our club. The pools have been emptied, cleaned, and refilled. The Township has inspected the pools and has given us permission to open! We are very excited to announce that we will open tomorrow, Wednesday, August 12th, at 10:00am with our even/odd date schedule that we have used on the weekends. We will use that schedule through Sunday. Please see the website home page for the even/odd schedule. The guest policy will remain the same as it was before, weekdays after 5:00pm, cost is $5.00, limited to 25 guests. PennDOT has completed the road work that will allow access to the club from the Mill Road side of the club only. You will see a road closed sign near Karakung Drive and Mill Road; the police department indicated that members may drive around it to access the club. (Note: You cannot drive to KSC from the Wynnewood Lanes direction of Karakung Drive. It remains closed.) We have not rebuilt the footbridge yet, but the police department provided barriers to create a pedestrian walkway along the road from our parking lot to the alternate club entrance that we have established at our gate near the red shed on Karakung Drive. Additional Notes: Member chairs closest to the slide have been rinsed off with a hose but individual members will be responsible for cleaning their own chairs. Members with handicapped placards can park on the shoulder of Karakung Drive near the side gate. The Snack Bar may still need a few more days to become fully operational and will remain closed for now. The Board wants to express its deepest gratitude to the many workers and volunteers who have come together as a community to reopen the pool. We are also grateful to you, the members, for your patience in this summer of 2020, one that will be remembered like no other. See you at the pool!

Dear Members, Thank you so much for your patience as we deal with the flooding and closing of the pool this past week. Tentatively, we anticipate opening at some point this week. We should know more from the township in the next few days and will reach out to all of you as soon as possible. Hopefully you’ve been able to check out the pictures with the cleanup progress on Instagram. Efforts by the desk attendants, lifeguards, and managers have been awesome. As far as dam...age, the main and baby pool were totally flooded by the creek. Both have been emptied, cleaned, and are in the process of being refilled and chemically balanced. Thankfully, the pumps for each pool were not damaged. The decking and fencing on the foot bridge was destroyed but the structure underneath remains intact. That won’t be properly rebuilt for at least another week. Accessing the parking lot remains a problem since Karakung Drive is closed in both directions due to a residential retaining wall failing on the north side of the parking lot entrance as well as a road and guardrail repair by PennDOT to the south of the parking lot near the shed. In the event we can open, we will use either the side gate or back gate as our new entrances but there are many factors that go into those scenarios. We may even consider airlifting people in via helicopter! Again, once we know more from the township, we will be able to better determine how we can all access the club. On a separate note, we are considering a number of ways to stay open on Saturdays and Sundays past Monday, September 7. We’ll announce a closing plan as we get closer to Labor Day weekend. Quite a summer, sheesh. We hope you and your family are staying safe and we can’t wait to see you at the pool. Respectfully, Stu Krissinger and the entire board; Chris Bobbitt, Tara Chester, Bill Derbyshire, Erica Keagy, Staci Gillespie, Jason Matson, Sean O’Malley, Kristen Reed, Zack Rimmele, Colleen Robinson, Loren Stewart, Stephen Trempe, and Steph Vetro-McCloskey.

Huge moment this weekend! Our staff continues all the hard work to get this pool operational. Please keep an eye on your email for official updates. Thank you!!!

To say we got walloped would be an understatement. Clean up continues! Be mindful- the township has closed down the road right in front of Karakung due to a mudslide as well as washed out road. We will keep you posted. Thank you for your patience and understanding!

There is is still much to do, but lots of progress today!