New $22M Health and Wellness Center at SCCC adds second public pool on East End

Suffolk County Community College officials have unveiled the new Health and Wellness Center at the school's eastern campus, featuring one of only two public pools on the East End.

The $22 million, 40,000-square-foot facility includes an eight-lane competitive pool and will be open to the public for a daily fee or yearly membership. The center opened in February, but officials just held a grand opening on Friday.

The facility at the Northampton campus also features a fitness room with free weights, courts for volleyball, badminton and basketball, an indoor running track, a rock climbing wall, locker rooms, showers and two classrooms.

The Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant pool is primed for competitive events with bleachers, a sound system and an interactive scoreboard. The only other East End public pool is at the YMCA East Hampton RECenter.

Southampton Town will also use the new pool for police dive team and lifeguard trainings, said Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman.

“It took many years of hard work to get the funding for the Health and Wellness Center, but this is something the whole community can now enjoy,” Schneiderman said in a statement.

By Vera Chinese

vera.chinese@newsday.com@VeraChinese

Vera Chinese joined Newsday in 2017 after working as an editor for the East End lifestyle publication northforker and a general assignment reporter for the New York Daily News.