The City of Manhattan Beach has grappled with the fact that its aquatic facility, the nearly 70 year old Begg Pool, is nearing the end of its functional life. Surveys show residents overwhelmingly approve of a new aquatic center, but not its price tag, which ranges from $27.9 million for a rebuilt Begg (with an annual operating cost of $800,000) or $40.3 million for a more modern, expanded facility (and an operation cost of $1.8 million annually).
Enter Bay Club, the high-end fitness center operator and owner of the Manhattan Beach Country Club, who has offered to build an aquatics center that would prioritize resident use on a parking lot it currently leases from the City adjacent to the Country Club. Bay Club has been in talks with City staff for the last year, fleshing out its offer. On Tuesday night, City Council advancing a Memorandum of Understanding that would formalize the agreement, and, within two years, result in a sparkling new state-of-the-art aquatic center at no cost to the City, either in construction or future operations. Patricia Matson, the senior management analyst who gave a report on the matter to Council, said that discussions had reached a point where it needed Council’s guidance to “determine if staff should continue to pursue the project.”
The draft MOU resulted in two different design iterations, one that included a single 25-yard competition-sized pool, and a second that also included a smaller recreational pool. Bay Club has estimated that the cost of construction would be $8 million to $12 million, which would be paid entirely by the company. As part of the agreement, Manhattan Beach residents would have priority access to the aquatic facility, above Bay Club members. Bay Club would offer programming that “mirrors” current City programming at Begg Pool, but the cost would be more — $15 dollars for a daily use fee, as opposed to the $3 to $7 per hour fee at Begg and other public pools in the area.
Matson said Bay Club has committed to working with the City in developing programming at the pool, but that they would use their own staffing. The higher cost is in part to help fund the construction.
“The programming would be developed with revenue generation and operating costs in mind,” Matson said. “This [$15] user fee is projected to be higher than that of other local pools due to the cost of building the new facility. Final fees would need to be memorialized in the amended lease, and staff may return to council to determine if the City would like to subsidize or partially subsidize the fees for residents.”
Regardless of whether the Council proceeds, Bay Club has also promised to donate $1 million to help with repairs to Begg Pool that are intended to extend its useful life at least a few years. Those repairs will also cost an additional $825,000, which is included in the City’s Capital Improvement Project budget for 2026.
Council at several points sought reassurance that Manhattan Beach residents would have access to the aquatic center in the same way they do Begg Pool, despite the facility being part of a private club. Bay Club CEO Matthew Stevens was emphatic that they would, and said even the name of the facility would be indicative of this.
“This is being proposed as the City of Manhattan Beach Aquatic Center, with city of Manhattan Beach residents having first priority and Bay Club members having second priority,” Stevens said.
“It might cost a little bit more per visit, but it wouldn’t cost the City of Manhattan Beach anything,” he said. “It would be all funded by Bay Club. And so that’s sort of the proposal, the ‘win-win’ that we’ve been trying to bring forward. We’ve had an amazing relationship with the City of Manhattan Beach. We’re one of the big promoters behind the [Manhattan Beach Education Foundation] and host their annual event. We’re so thankful for being allowed to do business in the City of Manhattan Beach.”
Councilperson Amy Howorth said that the City could feasibly subsidize the higher user fee for residents because of the money it would save by not building an aquatics center.
“We’re not spending $40 million,” she said. “We could subsidize it so that residents could get whatever amount — if we wanted to make it so that residents are only paying $7 for use, we could possibly do that.”
Mayor David Lesser said that the MOU raised several questions that needed to be further considered, but expressed gratitude to the Bay Club for its willingness to take on the project.
“First and foremost, thank you,” Lesser said. “Thank you for over the last 12 months exploring options with our City Staff.”
One of the questions Lesser had was simply why Bay Club would want to build the City a pool.
“If I could just ask, how does this fall with Bay Club?” he asked. “Is it just about goodwill?”
“You know, we will, probably by the end of this year, have 100 clubs across the West Coast,” Stevens said. “One of our starting points was here in El Segundo, and we’ve grown to be a very healthy sports, outdoor recreation, active lifestyle company, and so we do community give back here. We do a lot now. The Ed Foundation will tell you, we pick up the cost for the Wine Auction, where that was not the case once upon a time. This is a way for us to give back here in the Manhattan Beach area. Up in San Francisco, we’re one of the top two [companies] engaged with Boys and Girls Clubs. So, overall as a company, we are picking certain marketplaces to do better at giving back to the community. I would think this project is going to be a push — you know, it’s not going to be a financial windfall for us, but it’s good mojo for the relationship. We hopefully will be here well into the 22nd century, doing business in the Beach Cities.”
It also came up, in the Council’s questioning of Stevens, that Bay Club is building a recreational pool within its existing footprint, something the CEO said is “an entirely separate project,” but is also indicative that the company is not entirely depending on the private-public aquatic facility.
Lesser also questioned how Bay Club could build an aquatic center for a fraction of what the City’s projected cost for such a facility would be. Stevens said private companies do not have to follow the same requirements as public agencies, such prevailing wage requirements, and Bay Club in particular has a lot of experience building pools.
“There’s just a different process for a private company than a public facility,” he said. “The good news is we’ve done this. We have over 100 pools in operation and probably have 15 to 20 pools under construction right now. So we know what it costs us to build our pools, and we’ve done construction in El Segundo and here in the City of Manhattan Beach, so we understand the soils, conditions, all of those things. We’re very comfortable with our thought process on what the cost structure will be.”
Council members and residents had many questions, however, about just how a privately run public pool would work.
Resident Laura Danson said that she is a ten year veteran of the water aerobics program at Begg Pool and that the higher fee would be problematic for her and many others in that program.
“I don’t know if the council realizes [the aerobics program] is filled
four days a week, with many people who live on limited incomes,” she said. The charge of $15 is a very large jump from what’s currently being charged. In addition to those of us who are older and live on a fixed income, we see families coming in who can’t afford to belong to the Country Club or to the Bay Club, and they’re able to access swimming lessons for their kids. I also want to say how great the City staff is.”
Adam Goldstone, a local resident and longtime participant in the masters swim classes at Begg, urged the council to deeply question what it would mean to turn a public pool into private hands. He noted that Bay Club is funded by private equity, and while current leaders might be easy to work with, there are no guarantees going forward. He said the devil is in the details.
“I’ve worked for a private equity backed company,” he said. “The pressures are enormous, financially, and it leads to a lot of managerial turnover. I’m sure that people that we’re hearing from tonight are very good at what they do in their jobs, but we really need to be very detailed in terms of what the program is going to be and what the people are going to be, in having Bay Club take over. Jesus [Sandoval], who is sitting right over here, he’s our Friday coach. There are other residents who are coaches, and a lot of older kids in town, or lifeguards — they are our swim coaches during the summer. I would really urge Council to shy away from not having programming and staffing.”
Resident Michael Jenkins likewise urged the City to keep its own staffing.
“I don’t see why we would take a public function like this, and let it be turned over to a private company,” he said. “I don’t really think this is necessarily a win-win. Frankly, I think we’re giving away a lot, and we’re not getting a lot back.”
Resident Jeanne Fratello said that a mother with two kids could go to El Segundo’s aquatic center and pay $20 for what would cost $45 at this proposed facility.
“I think the market is going to speak,” she said. “…I’d just as soon go to El Segundo, which is really well-run, rather than pay sort of an inflated price to something local.”
Another sticking point was the six foot depth of the competition pool. City surveys indicated residents wanted the ability to have water polo in a new pool, which requires a six-and-a-half foot depth. Councilperson Nina Tarnay questioned Stevens, who said Bay Club is open to consider greater depth, but that its main goal is to serve as many types of uses as possible.
“The deeper the pool, the less it can be used for other things you want, like recreational swimming,” he said. “It’s 85 degrees out, like you see at Begg Pool, and a lot of people and families come. When you have an extremely deep section, that makes it more difficult. And so therefore that would rule out that use right now. I believe what we have researched is [a six foot depth] would only not be able to do actual high school matches for water polo…But there is flexibility. The goal would be to make sure the pool is used the most.”
The Council was not ready to proceed. Staff was directed to investigate many of the questions that arose, including regarding retention of community programming, pool depth, and the possibility of fee subsidies.
“I want to say very strongly that we absolutely need to do a better job of providing an aquatic facility for this community,” Howorth said. “And I do not know if this is the answer. I don’t think it is the answer. It could be part of the solution.”
Howorth also expressed “frustration and disappointment” that the Manhattan Beach Unified School District, which owns Begg Pool, last year successfully passed a $200 million bond measure “with no plans to do anything to the pool.”
“The school district owns the land,” she said. “So even though I have long been leading a charge for a pool, we don’t get to make the decision on what happens there…So I appreciate this creative idea, but I do think there are things to work out. We still need to have a long term plan for a new pool, whether it’s at Begg or somewhere else. I just can’t give up on that yet, but I have concerns.”
Councilperson Steve Charelian stressed that the proposed project would not replace Begg Pool — that it would still operate into at least the near future — and that perhaps the Bay Club proposal could help the City buy time as it finds a way to build a new facility entirely its own. He noted that when the inevitable does happen and Begg must be closed, this facility would likewise prove extremely helpful.
“This potentially could help us bridge that gap of not having any aquatics,” Charelian said. “Because if Begg ends and we don’t have anything, then we’re going to have a bigger conversation.”
Tarnay said that ultimately the City would need to determine just how much it is willing to give up — whether program wishes or control — in order to have a functional aquatic facility.
“My main priority is making sure that this remains a community pool,” she said. “I think that’s what we’re hearing from our community, that we want to retain as much control as we can…..This is a balancing act. What are we willing to compromise in order to get a pool built that we can’t afford to build? What is the community willing to give up? And if we’re not willing to give up those things, then do we want to spend more time in pursuing this avenue?”
The matter will return to Council in two months. Lesser said that as staff and Bay Club continue to drill down on details, the Council needs to be prepared to consider other options.
“Even if, ultimately, we’re not able to come to terms with Bay Club and we have to go out for a request for proposal on our land and see what that cost would be,” Lesser said. “I’m not there yet, but I simply wanted to indicate, as opposed to looking a gift horse in the mouth and rejecting it — there might be enough issues here that prevent us from moving forward.” ER
