Within two years, Farmingdale State College’s pool, which is used by many local swim clubs and school teams, will be closed. The college made the announcement recently, saying the cost of maintenance and upkeep for the pool is simply too costly.

Instead, the college will be demolishing the pool and and putting up a new gymnasium.

“There aren’t any other local pools; where are all the teams supposed go?” asked Phil Healey, a Massapequa community leader and 13-year CYO swim coach. “It’s a wonderful facility and so many youth teams use it.”

Dozens of teams from local high schools in Nassau and Suffolk counties and the CYO use the pool, including teams in Massapequa, Amityville and West Babylon.

In a statement released March 3, college officials said the pool is in disrepair and is now inefficient and costly to operate. “As a result, and as part of a comprehensive renovation of the athletics complex, the pool will be decommissioned and the pool area will be converted to an auxiliary gymnasium. This step will assist us in meeting the increasing demand for additional gym space for our growing student enrollment as well as from the public.”

Operating costs have been in the red for many years, according to the college.

“We are losing about $43,000 a year on the pool,” said Kathy Coley, director of communications for the college. “It costs $93,000 to operate and maintain and we are making about $50,000 in revenue from the groups who use the pool.”

Farmingdale State College does not have a swim team, but some swim coaches in the area said other alternatives should have been explored.

“It doesn’t make sense,” said Healey. “If they wanted the teams to pay more money (to use it) we’d be happy to do that to keep our programs going.”

Although some of the swim coaches contacted by the Massapequa Post said they were told verbally in October 2009, others did not know of the school’s intentions.

“This closing will be devastating to our team,” said West Babylon Swim coach Anthony Spinelli who had not heard the rumor. “We need to know what’s happening as soon as possible so we can make other arrangements.”

“We were told to look for another pool to use,” said Jill Dawideit, who has run the swim program for St. Rose of Lima for the last five years. “We’re losing out big time... it's affecting a lot of people.”

Still, New York State Assemblyman Joe Saladino is hopeful. “I am in lockstep with the local community and sports leagues,” he said. “I hope they are able to find funds to keep the pool open in these tough economic times.”

The college, which offers public access to their athletic fields and courts, theatre, lecture halls and meeting rooms, said the decommissioning of the more than 38-year-old pool will begin within 18 months and two years.