Just hours after being shut down by a cease-and-desist order, the Olympic Swim Club in Penn Hills is back open. The owner says she spent hours at the Penn Hills Municipal Building on Thursday, meeting with local officials, where both sides came to an agreement.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE >>> Neighbors bring concerns about swim club to officials after apparent shooting
Outdoor pool parties are now a thing of the past, according to Mary Sullivan, the Olympic Swim Club’s owner.
“I think most of them understood that it wasn’t the facility,” Sullivan said. “It’s what happened. They don’t want the parties, and they got their way. They won’t be here anymore. Ever.”
Penn Hills revoked the swim club’s Occupancy Permit and Conditional Use approval Wednesday for “repeated failure to comply with the conditions of operation.” The shutdown comes after a reported shooting Saturday night where someone was hit and taken to the hospital.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE >>> Neighbors call for Penn Hills swim club to be shut down after apparent shooting during pool party
“The party was over at 10. The shooting, I believe, occurred around 10:30-10:38, and it was up on Twin Oak Drive. Probably both participants were here, but I don’t know,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan says she was allowed to reopen Thursday afternoon with changes.
“They gave us temporary conditional use. We cannot have the big parties outside anymore. No alcohol, no drugs, no DJ, and we’re not allowed to park on the street, Twin Oak Drive. They were the conditions that they gave me,” Sullivan said.
Neighbors say they never wanted the pool to shut down. Their main issue stemmed from the outdoor pool parties.
“We know that most of the activities happening at the pool are totally fine and we like them,” Penn Hills resident Patrick Smith said. “But it’s just this one event that they have that they needed to take additional precautions for.”
Penn Hills Mayor Pauline Calabrese says many of the teens coming to the area aren’t even from here.
“It appears that teens are looking for other places to go,” she said.
She wants people to know that Penn Hills won’t tolerate it.
“Don’t come here, because we will be enforcing everything that we have to send a very strong message: if you intend to have these types of parties, they’re not going to happen in Penn Hills.”
Sullivan says she will have to go before the zoning board in July to officially get her permit back since the one issued Thursday is temporary.
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