Rosedale Beach Club adds fundraiser in challenging battle to stay afloat

Rosedale Beach Club in Penn Hills is staying afloat as it struggles with rising costs that caused another area swim club to close for good after the season ended last year.

“It gets tougher every year. Costs are always increasing,” Rosedale President Todd Bowser said.

Rosedale has been open since 1926 and for the last 15 years has maintained its social membership rates between $270 and $390 for individuals or families, with discounts for signing on early. Bowser said the club meets its roughly $90,000 annual budget through the memberships, day camps and fundraisers like the Rosedale Fall Festival it held for the first time last year. Next month, the club will have its first purse bash fundraiser.

The closing of the Highlands Aqua Club in Penn Hills and the Plum Aqua Club, whose land was taken by the state for expansion of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, has also brought a small swell of new members — 26 so far — and revenue to Rosedale, Bowser said.

Club Secretary Dani Scott said the extra revenue is welcome.

“The pool is old, it needs a lot of work,” Scott said.

The club needs to raise about $100,000 to chip away at a to-do list that includes replacing the clubhouse roof, the pool liner and improving its tennis courts. Keeping the club in shape is the only way to attract and keep members in a world that each year adds other options for families, Bowser said.

“Kids are busy now. They have baseball and travel for other sports. Kids spend so much time inside on video games,” he said. “Community pools have to compete with that.”

Bowser and others are up for the challenge of selling summer fun at the club, which opens May 26.

“It's a way to get outside and enjoy the fresh air,” he said. “It's bringing families together to the same place, enjoying the same thing.”

Dillon Carr is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 412-871-2325, dcarr@tribweb.com or via Twitter @dillonswriting.