There are a handful of options for gyms in Concord and the surrounding area. Beede is not a Boston Sports Club or the like -- it is much smaller than those places. There's a cardio room with about 7 treadmills, 3 bikes, 7 ellipticals, and two rowing machines. The second room is a weight room with both machines and free weights and a good selection of bands, weighted balls, etc. The other major plus is the pool. Really nice 8 lane 25 m pool, diving pool, body temperature therapy pool and a kid's 1 ft deep pool. The trainers and staff are friendly -- New England friendly. Sometimes the lifeguards are a bit strict in enforcing the rules but everybody is fundamentally nice. Lastly, compared to any other gym in the area, it's WAY less expensive to be a member! read more

Staff are incredibly rude and it is rare to find one that is nice. The gyms are tiny, overpriced and they watch over you like a hawk, they always make it seem like you are doing something wrong. Their staff make it seem like they genuinely hate everyone and their job. it is NOT a welcoming environment. After reading many of the other reviews I see I am not the only one complaining of the rudeness of the staff. The rude staff make me consider if my over priced membership is worth it. read more

Update: June 30, 2023. Day 69 of lap pool closure. We cancelled our membership after over 9 years. Horrible management of this facility. FYI to everyone considering joining this facility: it is closed for all Town of Concord official holidays, including Christmas Eve Day. Plus they close for an entire "shut-down week" typically the last full week of August every year. Think about all these planned closure days before you join. That's right, any holiday (when you have a day off of work) you won't be able to use this facility. read more

The Beede Center has a great pool, excellent fitness facilities, and a highly professional staff. I have been very satisfied since becoming a member almost 3 years ago. read more

The pool has gone downhill in the past few years. They are now letting babies into the therapy pool who are using it as their own toilet, and all the pools are not sanitary. I get sick every time I go there. It's really sad. I would not recommend. Additionally they have now closed for months ripping off people who have annual memberships. read more

be careful, here I had a very karen experience with the manager (can't remember her name) of the place. she doesn't like questions and when she doesn't know the answer or doesn't want to answer that's when she goes Karen. the gym locker room down start where very dirty, i went there with a local friend and left not happy, me friend said things have changed and if it wasn't so close to his home he would leave and he understood where I was coming from. read more

This has to be a facility filled with the worst people , staff are walking around annoyed 24/7 , make sure you don't have questions they will chew your head off !! And the people who are working the pool area need to be reevaluated because they hate their job and ignore kids when they have questions give attitude when an answer is given are blowing the whistle if the kids want to use the slide .... The most unprofessional staff that makes sure to ruin your experience there !! Stay far away !!! read more

I love the Beede Center! The staff is friendly...they knew my name long before I remembered their's! The personal training is outstanding. Laurel DeWolf-Grise knows how to push but how to have fun. I'm in so much better shape than when I started working with her...and down 30+ lbs, so far! She gives practical advice and always corrects my form. Plus she adds variety to the circuits. It is clean, with convenient hours and a great place for a workout! read more

I love this place. It truly is a place for all types of people - not just fitness freaks or super athletes. It's always clean and the staff is friendly and helpful. I have no problem finding an open lane for swimming and just love relaxing afterwards in the therapy pool. We are so fortunate to have this in our neighborhood. read more

The pool is glorious, nicer than Thoreau Club or any other private pools in the area. It's not overchlorinated, so you don't reek of bleach after swimming and your dye job (ahem, some of us have a few gray hairs) doesn't get fried. Eight lanes for lap swimming, plus a diving pool, a heated spa where they hold classes for arthritis sufferers, and a kiddie pool. Adult classes in addition to master swim groups and a swim team for the kiddies. No excuses for not knowing how to swim when this is right in your backyard! There are two little gyms, one for cardio and the other for weights. Not my cup of tea, but for those who love a dryland workout--good on ya. read more

The perfect little gym with an amazing large pool for every type of swimmer.

Love the Beede Center. The staff are very friendly and helpful. The facility is always clean and well run. Great pool, plenty of lanes, never a wait to get my laps in. Pools for kids, diving pool and nice spa pool. Tim R read more

Bottom line, the Beede Center is the only game in town if you want to swim in this area. Unfortunately, the people and venue come with it..... The employess are genuinely disinterested in their members and the business. All they do is surf on-line, in their offices and at the front desk, and tolerate your presence in their building. If you have a question or concern, your better off yelling it out the window of your car on Rt 2 than sharing it with an employee. They simply don't care. I'm not sure but I'd guess they are town/govt employees rather than private sector workers. In either case, they are disconnected to the business and it's customers. The facility is fantastic but is plagued by maintenance issues. There is always a problem. From the minor: no paper towels in the men's room, urinals busted for a month to the more significant: no hot water in the venue for several months (makes showers after working out horrible) pools closed because of constantly damaged pumps, not enough lifeguards on staff to open dive well or the parking lot full of CCHS students parking in their lot. (Beede center keeps a sign in the building on the main desk that CCHS kids should not be parking there... As if the kids come in the Beede Center to read it... They need a staff member at the gate during the morning hour when high school kids are rolling into morning class.) This place has a ton of potential. It's like a 5 star hotel that is falling into disrepair. If the management doesn't step up and start running this business like a business, this will be our last year as a member. read more

The pools are great, there are four...one for laps, one for diving, one for kids, and one therapy pool. The gym is okay, I wish they had more equipment. BUT I am so unhappy with the way the staff has treated me and my parents who have a membership there. First of all, a membership for BOTH the pool and the gym costs A LOT. I understand there are scheduled times where the lap pool, diving pool, and therapy pool are restricted due to certain events...but it's pretty inconvenient since it seems almost every time I go, I am not allowed to go swim where. For the price I'm paying they should have a few hot tubs as well. I have no problem sharing with the public, I think that the set up for the pool is great, nice temperature, clean, and it's great that the high school kids get to swim/dive and practice (my generation didn't have this luxury when I went to CCHS) I feel excluded, and so do my parents. We have been treated poorly, and the over all feel of the place is a little snotty. The people at the front are rude, and treat you like you don't matter when you have a question. They aren't friendly or welcoming, and if they are it's rare. Even on the phone. There have been many times I have been scolded by one of the older ladies who runs swimming lessons or pool therapy...one time it was "okay you have to get out, we're having a class in 5 minutes," in curt tone of voice. Not only that but she has scolded my elderly father because he was doing a few simple laps (not in the lap lanes) but no, there was another "class" that was happening in the small section of the lap pool where there are no lanes. She among some other women were yelling, "SIR! SIR, STOP HIM!" He wasn't in anyone's way, and then the woman who ran the class muttered, "What is he, deaf?" I heard her loud and clear. We were told to leave the pool, and we had done research...there was no class posted during that time of the day in the pool. If there is a problem with their computer system (it's happened so many times), it's our fault. We have to pay for a new card if we lost it...even if you lose it once...which I can I sort of understand...but we have to wait and be patient when they have messed up our membership/computer information etc...and there is not a single word of "thank you for your patience" or "sorry this is taking so long"...nothing. Our parking card has failed to work about three times now, and with honking cars behind us, we called the front desk again and again. Somehow the parking card always has problems. Over the past summer, I was walking past two of the teen life guards--one male the other female...as I was almost passing by them, the girl was pointing at me whispering to the male and laughing. I was appalled and I still am. Now today I was interested in looking inside the therapy pool bin to look at a laminated paper illustrating stretches for physical therapy (I was interested in learning a couple) and suddenly that same woman says, "PUT THAT DOWN, THAT'S FOR PHYSICAL THERAPY ONLY! YOU CAN LOOK AT THE BLUE PAGES ON THE WALL!" I put the piece of paper back into the bin and started to walk back to the locker room. She proceeded to say, "LOOK AT THE BLUE PAGES ON THE WALL" and I said..."no...that's okay". How dare someone talk to me like that when I pay top dollar for membership here. I wasn't hurting anyone, and I think I should be allowed to look at a piece of paper if I want to. Of course memberships expire before summer--clever. There are a few people who work there that are okay, but many of the people there are down right rude, and I have been dealing with it for over 5 years now. Ten's of thousands of dollars later...it's not gotten any better. I am here because I have had too many negative experiences, and I am not afraid to share them. I have to convince my parents not to renew our membership because it's not worth it. P.S. I don't think it's right that the CCHS bus driver guard "Ken" whatever he is...hits his hand on my mothers car when we were coming in "the wrong entrance" at the "wrong time". We turned around, there was no need for his temper to be taken out on our car. read more

Arbitrary application of policies meshed with surly MODs and lifeguards give off the impression of a fiefdom v. a Rec Center. I entered with some resident members and their daughter, a college friend of mine, to spend some non-commercial, in-water instructional time with her kids. The MOD gave her tacit approval to this arrangement upon admission, then abruptly reversed course 30' later, stomping on deck in a fit of angered pique and excoriating our party to desist or leave after seemingly 'spying' from the first floor. Her invocation of 'liability' and 'just following the rules' were both knee jerk and capricious after post-admission pronouncements. Further, and to reiterate the non-commercial nature of our visit, disclosing to all staff that I WAS insured fell on deaf ears, to the point where a lifeguard challenged me on the point. His gaze averted after I explained my professional status of recreational programming/facility consultant title, challenging the assertion. A facility of this caliber architecturally and amenity-wise should have commensurate service quality expectations. Clearly, 'power' is the only component existing staff, and via their hire, management tacitly approve. Atkinson Pool in Sudbury exhibits polar opposite hospitality, where we'll take our business down the road. read more

I must agree with those who have commented on the rudeness of the staff. I have been a member here for several years and each year I have grown more frustrated with the management. Please note that I have interacted with a handful of staff members who have been 100% pleasant and helpful; HOWEVER, the majority will make you feel like you are imposing on them simply by using the facility/membership you are paying for! Many staff members seem to see themselves as disciplinarians - eager to point out to members that they have broken some silly rule. This is especially true of the women who run the pool (which is too bad because it is the nicest indoor pool I've ever seen). Another problem is that the gym is much too hot both in winter and in summer. In winter, they turn the heat up much too high (warmer than I keep my home!) and in summer they cannot seem to get the AC working. At 6:30 AM last summer it was in the 70s and humid inside the gym. When I asked a staff member about this, I was told "the AC takes a while to kick in. It's too bad." Really?! This is despite their spending a huge sum of money upgrading their HVAC. I believe that they are catering to their geriatric members who don't work out that hard. I'm all for elderly people exercising, but if you like to run or otherwise work out hard, prepare to do so in a stuffy, overheated place. And prepare to be reprimanded if you try to open a door in the gym to get some fresh air. I have come to see this as a predominantly geriatric facility. Why do I go here, then? It's walking distance from my house and convenience trumps just about everything for me when it comes to a gym. read more

I use the facility exclusively for swimming. The pool is excellent: nice wide lanes, excellent depth, and the right temperature for working out. And I love how bright it is. Staff is always courteous...a smile and a hello. I think some of the other reviewers were unclear that when they joined a town owned facility (run by the Rec Dept.) across from the high school that, gosh, there may be kids there. If you want a snooty private club, then go join one. If you want a great facility that is clean and has a laid back vibe, then join the Beede Center. read more

Love the people at the B.D. The "coolness" that some other reviews spoke of is probably just "the Concord way" :) I have found the desk staff and the trainers to be very friendly. Unfortunately, the staff are ruled by an iron fist in the form of the Fitness Center manager - Jan? - and the stressful atmosphere that she creates permeates the building. Never any warm water in the bathroom sink faucets - ever. In fact, if you want to wash your hands be prepared for cold water. I've never had warm water at the sink in my 8 years there! read more

Personal training that keeps me coming back. Laurel is the best at motivating the middle aged female!

This is a clean, well-kept smaller gym with a large pool area. Staff is friendly and welcoming, especially Maureen and Natalie at the front desk. Equipment is in decent shape; personal trainers are available for anyone wanting external motivation. All in all, an excellent value for anyone looking to get in a workout in Concord. read more

Pool is good, usually plenty of access to equipment. I just wish they'd change the music. It's some channel that plays bad album rock from the mid-70s, and it is always on. read more

My only complaint is that there are too many full length mirrors in the locker rooms to remind you why you joined the gym in the first place. read more

Glorified high school facility. Unfriendly, disrespectful, offensive staff. Schedule filled with high school, team and other activities, few, if any, open times for working people. Dirty showers and locker rooms. Overpriced for the offering. If you want to be treated like a high school student in need of adult supervision, sign for it. read more

Fitness center has 2 very functional fitness equipped rooms. One is a fully equipped weight and strength training room and the other is more of a cardio fitness room with elipticals, treadmills, rowing machines, bikes, etc. For swimmers, there's a lap pool and a diving pool and a lot of swimmers seem to like the lap pool (I don't use the pools). I use both of the fitness rooms and appreciate the variety of equipment that's available. I wish they'd add a business channel to the tv's on the cardio equipment. Other than that, no complaints. Clean, comfortable and friendly environment. read more

The gym's not much but the pool is spectacular. Separate pools for laps, diving/high-diving, therapy and a large shallow kiddie play area with lots of things that spray and bubble. For me, that means the lap pool doesn't have to be warm for kids and the geriatric set. The water quality in the lap pool (probably the others but I don't track them) is almost always excellent. Excellent clarity, no eye-stinging(so Ph good), never a smell of chlorine. People at the desk are friendly, guards are competent and friendly. Although it's just across the drive from the Concord-Carlisle high school, I've never had a problem parking as there's a reserved lot you use your ID card to get into. It seems a good place for kids with the caveat that the guards are NOT babysitters; do not expect to drop your kid off here and have it be some kind of daycare. There's also a bit of a disagreement with some folks in the town. They feel that it's a town pool and the C-C HS swim team should have absolute scheduling priority. In fact the pool takes no town money. There were fund raisers to get enough $$ to build. There's a discount if you're 60 or over, free if you're 80 or over, also a discount if you're a Concord resident. Speaking of 80-or-over, after one hard workout (I was struggling to keep my usual pace for whatever reason) I said in the locker room "I wish I was 30 again!". One of the guys (good swimmer) came back with "Hell! I wish I was 80 again!". Also, as at many pools in well-to-do towns, you get some kids with a sense of entitlement. They're here, but in much smaller numbers than the other pools in the area. I have no idea what the issue with staff is that some folks have had. I've never had one, and have been going here for some years; it's been positive and encouraging every time. Finally, get a schedule. Sometimes most lanes are occupied by the HS swim team. It's inspiring so see how fast they go, but IMO much better to get your own lane. Also, if you use the dive pool for aqua jogging (great for that as it's a bit warmer than the lap pool) you'll want to know when the dive team is practicing. read more

Friendly and helpful staff. Handicapp accessible. The pool is inclusive and for all needs of swimmers. Pool staff are happy to help and will let you know what lane is open. Bring your own towel. It's a pleasant welcoming environment. read more

I was disappointed to see so few reviews of the Beede Center. I think it is a tragedy that Concord has this extraordinary facility, yet so many are driven away by the attitude of the people that run the Beede and work there. I am a parent of young children, and can attest to the fact that I know at least a half dozen families (including my own) that no longer use the Beede for swimming because they have been treated poorly by the staff. Truly, it is hard to use the pool without having a guard come over to you about a perceived problem with what you are doing. A few examples: * A guard aggressively asking if a child's float wings were "Coast Guard approved" * An aggressive young lifeguard telling me to stay closer to my children in the adult pool (um...who do you think cares most about them in this world?) * The fact that the Beede defines a "family" no more than five * The fact that water features can not go on until 11am for some reason I could go on. Again, this is a wonderful facility, but it is a terrible experience. It is too expensive, too unfriendly. Many would use this if it was welcoming and reasonably priced. Whoever is running it needs to lose the militaristic attitude of the place. Then, it could be what it was intended to be. I suggest the Concord Journal examine all of these points, and the public perception of this pool more closely -- how what was hoped for, and what has happened have differed. Why in such a great community would this have happened and who is responsible? Would make a great article. - A concerned parent who knows many that feels this way. read more

I just use the swim facilities and I will say it is one of the nicest swim venues in MA. The fact that it has family changing rooms is a great plus for families with small children. Water is clean and a good temp for lap swimming. So if you are single adult and just want to lap swim I would give Beede a 4 star rating. There are several downsides to the establishment, some of which have been mentioned by other reviewers. 1) Management is terrible. They really are very disinterested in members needs. Usually the ladies at reception are polite and nice but the upper & middle management could do with a bunch of customer service training. I also find that the place has a lot of management staff who spend a lot of time sitting in the lobby eating lunch. They could do well with trimming the management fat and hiring some more life guards. The guys who keep the facility clean do a really good job. They seem to work very hard. 2) It does take them a long time to address maintenance issue. Broken lockers, damaged family changing rooms, water temperature issue all take very long to rectify. Considering they close the place down for 1 week a year for maintenance you would think the place would be pretty ship shape. 3) bizarre rules for which pool people can use. For example the warm therapy pool can be used by kids with diapers but no other children are allowed even with supervision. So it makes it hard for families with a mix of children to go as the kids in diapers can't use the big pool, and kids without diapers can't use the therapy pool. The only pool they all can use is the wading pool which is not great for the larger kids to use. Plus for kids just out of diapers the big pool is intimidating and very cold for them to use whereas the therapy pool would be just right. I understand they don't want the therapy pool to be overrun with kids but they could use some judgment and discretion on allowing people in. If I want to work with my daughter on swimming skills and the therapy pool is empty I should be able to use it. 4) Water and air temp. The locker rooms are kept very cold. The hallways to the family changing areas are freezing. Often the changing rooms are full so waiting with wet small children in freezing hallways is not fun. You have to do this on busy weekends in order to get a changing room. Changing small children in the regular locker room is very hard because those rooms are cold and their are no changing stations. You need to use a very thin bench and balance your kid on that or use the floor. Not ideal. The locker room shower temps fluctuate wildly and often lead to either cold or very hot showers. They have been trying for years to fix this issue so I give them some credit for trying but it has been over 5 years now and still they are not right. 5) Cost. This place is not cheap. Family non residents swim only memberships are over $1500. For that much money management should be a bit more receptive to the needs to the members. read more

Many years ago a wealthy Concord resident passed away and left 5 million dollars to the town of Concord for the sole purpose of having a community gathering spot for all ages. Many years later and after several fundraisers, the Beede Center was completed. The Town of Concord owns and operates the facility. I believe the original donor would be please if he saw the Beede Center. Between the dive pool, the therapy pool, the kids splash area, the amazing lap/aquatics pool, and the fantastic workout rooms all ages come and enjoy this spot of joy! read more

It is like a nice YMCA...not pretentious, quite clean and it has family changing rooms in addition to the locker rooms. This is the first swim facility that had adaptive swim lessons for my child with autism. Hooray! Both my husband and I workout and swim here regularly and our elementary school aged kids swim here and also occasionally frequent the babysitting room. There are some intense lifeguards but I'd rather have them more vigilant than not. I do love my trainer, Sarah S. She is funny, gives me a great workout and cheers me on along the way. The training is incredibly reasonably priced, too. read more

This fitness center is without a doubt a highly mediocre (on its best days) to strongly disappointing experience overall. On the more positive note, first and foremost, its location does it "some" justice on one hand. The Beede Center is located on the part of Walden Street that's just down the street from Route 2 and is very easy to find, as it sits in an open lot right across from the high school. This makes it pretty convenient for folks driving back from work via Route 2 who wish to get a workout in before heading home or vice versa (particularly if they travel far). This also holds true for people who work in town who want to get some exercise in with their busy schedules and don't want to venture out at a great distance. On another positive note, the place is usually quite clean overall and the upkeep in terms of the exercise machines, weights, and other equipment is not bad. The people at the desk are cheerful, funny, and always smiling. Regarding the not-so-great, the training staff are a pretty mixed bag lot. There are certainly some decent trainers present who are very friendly, patient, helpful, and clear. The trainers Trish, Paul, and Mark come to mind. As for several of the others, there is much left to be desired and I am amazed that a couple, in particular, are still employed here. First, whenever I sought some advice with one trainer on effective exercise for an area I was focusing on (a brief question, by the way, that didn't require me paying them for in-depth training), I would almost always receive a snooty, aloof "question-of-an-answer" reply (such as, "Depends on what your goals are..."). This was quite odd to hear from someone considering that what I asked for help on, was very straightforward and I pretty much already stated to them what I wanted to accomplish. On other occasions when I asked them something (unfortunately, they were the only trainer free to talk often), their answer would be an absurdly complicated one with different jargon mixed in that was exclusive to the only training method, cross-fit, that he was willing to advise and train customers in. More than half the time, I had little clue as to what exactly the man was talking about and walked away with more question marks about my fitness than when I first approached him. How he enjoyed hearing himself go on about how he was a firm believer in the cross-fit routine and that as far as he was concerned, this was THE only proven method for reaching every one of one's goals and attaining optimal all-around health and fitness. A big turnoff for business, I have to say. The other problematic trainer whom I encountered was really cocky and seemed to have an issue with rudely staring at you at times. On the cocky, he would specifically make some macho, sarcastic, and almost antagonistic remarks in reply to advice that I asked him on. Like the previously mentioned fellow, he sadly had a one-track-and-one-size-fits-all mind on fitness instruction and that was cross-fit. It should also be mentioned that this gym (not including the pool area) is very small and heavily favored the high school athlete population over most everyone else, frequently. There were many a times when I walked in to workout one day and found the place was jumping with unruly excitement from a mass of swim team students in almost every direction. A good part of the pool area seemed to be closed off sometimes for the team to do their thing. The locker room was really no better with a large crowd of people everywhere and having very small space. For those of you people who like your group exercise classes, you won't find anything of the kind around here. Lastly, the management team of The Beede Center were generally disinterested and were unaccommodating as well. As a matter of fact, when my family and I finally decided to leave this place for good and notified them of such, they seemed even more aloof and made no attempts to convince us to stay on. So, to wrap up here, considering the membership costs including their join up fee of $199 in addition to the other downsides, The Beede Swim and Fitness Center is indeed one to bypass. read more

Overall nice facility, excellent pool, small unimpressive but perfectly functional gym, no classes (at least thatI am aware of), but ridiculously high prices for what was sold to the town as a "community pool". Even a day pass (with no extras like towels etc.) is $20. Do the math. (Whatever happened to community facilities like the Y ? ) read more

Beede Center is an excellent gym that serves a diverse membership. The gym is clean and well equipped and the personal training staff is top notch. I have trained with John D. for several years and, following his careful and patient advice, I have achieved significant improvement in my physical fitness. Other trainers I have observed and worked with are equally effective. Individuals of all fitness levels will find Beede to be a welcoming and friendly environment for developing their fitness. read more

I recently moved to the area and about a year ago, I found the Beede Center in Concord, thanks to neighbors who had been using it for years. It is one of the best recreation centers I have been to and it is now a regular part of my weekly routine. Everyone there is helpful and friendly. There are a variety of activities for people of all ages and abilities. I mostly go for the different pools where you can float, socialize, workout or relax in the bubbles of the therapy pool. There are terrific classes with engaging instructors as well as weight and exercise machine rooms. Your family can watch you from the viewing area above. I know people who would love to have a facility like this close to their home. It is bright and cheerful and well maintained. Whether you are a single person or a family, there are new friends and fun times at the Beede Center. It is a bright shining year-round star for the area. read more

This is an excellent pool. The water is always a constant temperature (about 81 or so) which is not too warm for a fast swimmer and not to cold for a slow one. It's not highly chlorinated. I think they use something else to purify it. It's not crowed if you time yourself to go when the swim team is not there. There is a therapy pool for doing stretches and arthritis type exercises, the big lap pool, a kiddie pool and a diving pool. The desk staff that has been there for a long time are very nice and professional as is the management. read more

We liked the pool at the Beede Center but decided to cancel our membership because we were not able to use it enough. My wife called and was told everything was cancelled. However, we continued to receive bills despite multiple phone calls. Finally my wife was told she had to come in to cancel her membership and on top of that she had to pay a $25 fee to cancel. A fee to cancel - seriously. That is robbery. The manager was incredibly rude about the entire experience. This place is lacking in Customer Service. read more

The Beede Center is the most awesome place on the planet Earth! What a blessing it is to have this gem located right here in Concord. The staff are always friendly and helpful. I love waking up and heading to the Beede Center each morning. The locker room is always so nice and clean and the entire facility is well maintained. The pools are always a a consistent temperature; the dive well pool is slightly warmer then the lap swimming pool. There is also a therapy pool which is of course, much warmer. I feel very safe when I swim at the Beede Center because the life guards are extremely vigilant ( I am thinking of Mark in particular, because he is on the morning shift, which is when I am there). The Beede Center is more than just a fitness club, it is a community of people who inspire and support one another as we move (literally) through life. Many thanks to the people who make the Beede Center possible! Donna read more

We were members at Beede for two years to make it easy for our three kids to take swim lessons and participate on the swim team. This year, we opted out of the membership, partly because it hurts to spend money at a place where the staff is so incredibly cranky and rude. We still use Beede (as it is the only game in town) for the swim team. We love the facilities and are reminded of our good fortune every time we have an "away" swim meet at some other locale. But the people at the front desk are generally rude, short tempered, and untrusting. I always feel like I am doing something wrong even if I am not. The lifeguards too, seem to have no warmth or good humor. It completely sucks that this is what we experience at our community pool. Shout out to Mike and to Maureen for excellent swim lessons, but everyone else could learn how to smile maybe. This is the overarching sentiment across the swim team families. We sit in that building 2-4 times per week scratching our heads that our gorgeous facility could have such an unfriendly feeling. read more