A large swimming lesson business is opening in a Sandy Springs shopping center in September.
Goldfish Swim School is a local franchise of a national swimming lesson company. The 9,200-square-foot facility is under construction and is scheduled to hold an opening event Sept. 22 at 6335 Roswell Road in what is commonly known as the Marshall’s Plaza.
The grocery chain Lidl was eyeing Marshall’s Plaza for one of its first U.S. locations, but pulled out of plans for that and another Sandy Springs location last year amid community opposition.
A back-yard swimming lesson business was a point of prolonged controversy in Sandy Springs earlier this year, with the City Council eventually passing a zoning change to legalize it. Among the arguments for preserving that business, Swim with Allison, were the dangers of children drowning without swimming lessons and perceptions that such home-based lessons were the best way to learn.
According to its website, the Goldfish Swim School is a member of a nonprofit called the National Drowning Prevention Alliance and is designed so parents can watch children during the lessons.