The future of Aqua Culture Swim School and Training Center, one of Harford County’s largest swim schools, is uncertain after its owners received a notice from the county government that its pool will be closed and turned into programming space for the Forest Hill Activity Center.

Wayne and Leslie Ziegler, owners of the swim school and training center in Forest Hill, received an initial lease termination notice from the county June 25. The letter informed them that the Forest Hill Activity Center needed additional programming space and that the “most advantageous and economical” option was to repurpose the indoor pool facility.

They were told the lease would be terminated Dec. 31.

With the school having been in business for 25 years and operating out of the county-owned facility on Commerce Road in Forest Hill since 2013, Wayne Ziegler said the notice was painful.

“It was very abrupt because we had been working with parks and recreation for years, and for them to send that without talking to us didn’t feel good,” Wayne Ziegler said. “The idea to close a community resource like a pool is heartbreaking.”

The Aqua Culture Swim School and Training Center provides swimming lessons to about 550 kids each week, and has about 65 people who use the facility two to three times per week for fitness and wellness exercises.

Ziegler said he responded to the June 25 letter by requesting to meet with the county but did not receive a response until he was sent a second letter in July, confirming that the facility will be closed and repurposed at the end of the year.

He began informing his employees and hundreds of clients of the closure, which prompted an outpouring of support.

Community members voiced concerns and support for the swim school and training center to County Executive Bob Cassilly. Chief of Staff Joe Cluster said Cassilly was aware of the plan to terminate the lease from its inception, but once Cassilly received pushback from the community, he opted to extend the lease termination date to July 31, 2026.

Cassilly’s decision to extend the termination, Cluster said, was to give the county the opportunity to meet with the Zieglers and see what they can work out.

Cluster noted that insurance for owning a pool costs the county a lot of money and that the county “does not want to be in the pool business.” He said the facility needs renovations to the building and the pool, which would result in the pool needing to be vacated anyway.

“We were aware of the decision to terminate the lease, and it is not one we make lightly,” Cluster said. “There was community pushback, and maybe it isn’t the right decision, but we are going to give them a chance to discuss things like the renovations and look at this.”

If the county government goes through with terminating the swim school and training center’s lease, Ziegler said, all of the low-cost programs and resources it offers will cease to exist and hundreds of kids would not be able to access swim lessons.

“We couldn’t go into someone else’s pool and tell them they have to let people come in and do water exercises from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. every day for $50 a month,” Ziegler said. “We looked at all the other swim lesson programs and even if all 550 of our students tried to go somewhere else, there is no capacity.”

Ziegler noted that he hopes to work something out with the county and said he is trying to establish a meeting date with county officials. After the meeting, Cluster said, Cassilly will have a plan for how to move forward, as he has not made any final decisions at this time.

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