Groundbreaking ceremony Thursday for new swim school in Occum
Norwich — Margee Charron’s Bubbles to Butterfly Swim School has been alternating between outdoor swimming holes in summer and hotel pools in winter for the past 20 years, but now, her goal of having a permanent home is in sight.
Charron will host a groundbreaking ceremony at 11 a.m. Thursday at the school’s new facility site, 61 Taftville-Occum Road in Occum.
“I will be holding my awesome staff-created gold, with our logo, groundbreaking shovel,” Charron said Wednesday.
And if it weren’t for the anticipated freezing temperatures and threat of snow and sleet, she said she might be tempted to jump into the muddy foundation hole for a celebratory swim, as well.
Construction of the 6,000-square-foot facility, approved by the city in August 2017, is underway by New England Construction, with an expected opening in June. Charron said trenches for the foundations have been dug, and cement is expected to be poured in the first week of December. Subsurface drainage for the parking lot has been completed.
Once the building is framed and the roof in place, interior construction will continue through the winter, she said.
The building will include a 30-by-60-foot warm water teaching pool set at 90 degrees and a climate-controlled viewing area that also will function as a rental party room.
Charron opened Bubbles to Butterfly in 1998 initially in her backyard pool at her Baltic home. Bubbles to Butterfly currently operates seasonally out of the AmericInn Lodge & Suites hotel in Jewett City during the winter and in Baltic at Salt Rock State Campground in the summer months.
The swim school has class levels for all ages, from parent/tot, starting at 4 months old, preschool classes for children 3-6 years old, school age classes for children 6 and older, teen instruction and adult classes. When the new facility opens, the school will add more programs for adults and seniors in water fitness, open recreational and family swim times, as well as school vacation specials.
Classes will continue at the AmericInn until the new facility opens. Registration for winter programs just opened, and spring classes will start in March, Charron said. For more information, contact Bubbles to Butterfly at (860) 822-6879.
Comment threads are monitored for 48 hours after publication and then closed.
