Valley Club Swim Club SOLD At Bankruptcy Auction For $1.46M: Club Kicked Out Black, Hispanic Kids

PHILADELPHIA -- A private suburban Philadelphia swim club accused of racial discrimination has been sold at a bankruptcy auction.

The Huntingdon Valley-based Valley Club was sold for $1.46 million Thursday. The club had filed for bankruptcy in November following discrimination lawsuits and a critical state report.

The gated club sits on a leafy hillside in a village straddling two overwhelmingly white townships. Last summer it revoked the memberships of 56 mostly black and Hispanic day campers, saying there were too many children and many couldn't swim. It said the decision was made out of safety considerations and race had nothing to do with it.

The club's bankruptcy trustee says once the sale is cleared by the court the money will be parceled out to the claimants.

WATCH: NBC Philadelphia spoke to campers after the incident

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Information from: The Philadelphia Inquirer, http://www.philly.com

Comments

[Anonani]

03:41 PM on 06/12/2010

Chicken's come home to roost.

[Roberta]

03:10 PM on 05/16/2010

It happened so fast; I suspect the club was on it's last legs financially anyway. Many old-style golf, swim and tennis clubs along the eastern seaboard are - to hear my friends and family tell.
One ugly PUBLIC incident that - this time - reached mass media. For years, it was safe for club members to quietly complain to management that the wrong types (ahem) were showing up. And the matter might have been discreetly addressed. It's a good sign that this story got pumped.
The wallet is the only critical organ in social matrix. If we want to influence how society operates we need to move money to small banks, de-inest in Wall Street, boycott states like AZ and sue them into the stone age. It's economic warfare, plain and simple. Everyone of us can play - even those on the other team.

[vonric]

02:29 PM on 05/14/2010

One ethically compromised decision destroyed this place, and frankly, I don't have a problem with that. They chose bankruptcy because this modestly funded private swim club could not affort the legal fees they were facing, let alone the potential of negative settlements. They chose to pull the plug, rather than go through court and pull the plug.

So, on stupid racist comment and decision blew this place up.

[vonric]

04:19 PM on 05/14/2010

Revise - there were other comments by some club members that were reported by the guests. However, the decision to rescind the membership was, apparently, a decision made by the club manager without, apparently, contacting the board first.

[1088]

11:55 AM on 05/14/2010

You see, when you hurt people's spirit and soul, that is what you get!

[Johnnyash]

10:05 AM on 05/14/2010

Maybe someone will buy the club and move it to Arizona where it belongs...

[cirrus9]

10:17 AM on 05/14/2010

Ever flown over AZ? Lots of pools there already.

The club has new owners now, no reason to move it from Philly.

[bkrider9]

01:02 PM on 05/14/2010

Now Johnny that is just too funny!

[USABrazil]

10:00 AM on 05/14/2010

In reality, the kids that were deprived of the aquatic activities through discrimination, are still on the lose-lose...

[ItHasToBeSaid]

11:51 AM on 05/14/2010

Yes, indeed. Not trying to play into stereotypes, but speaking from MY experience, I've run across few B/ack children who are strong swimmers. It would be great if a local YMCA or other gym facility offered swim lessons for these children. It's a great way to get some exercise and just a good skill to have.

[Kevin Atlanta]

09:42 AM on 05/14/2010

And the big statement is that they've now effectively avoided paying the damages that they caused. You can't get blood out of a stone...

[vonric]

02:33 PM on 05/14/2010

They have avoided those payments because they can't. The club was located in an affluent suburb of Philadelphia, but was sustained by its menbership. They chose bankruptcy now rather than later. There was no endowment, no massive insurance policy covering this sort of legal action, and not really the money to fund a legal defense

[She who thinks]

09:37 AM on 05/14/2010

Can you say Karma?

[rh654]

09:33 AM on 05/14/2010

Here is a link that gives some details and information that the blurb here at HuffPo leaves out...

http://www.myfoxphilly.com/dpp/news/local_news/051510-synagogue-buys-swim-club-in-race-case-

Of course any bets on if the upper-scale white folks will have any problems finding a pool for their kids to swim in? Of course not...

[vonric]

03:50 PM on 05/14/2010

It will be interesting to see how the Jewish Community Center establishes its usage patterns.

[Freesia2]

09:29 AM on 05/14/2010

Good.

The club's white select can now send their children to swim at the local YMCA. Or go to Walmart and buy a plastic pool. As for the so called "adults' find a waterhose (and use it to spray yourselves for a change. Yes - I'm referring to an historic image that you think I'm referring to).

Any which way, the Valley Club definitely need the water. They're dirty.

[Vernie31]

09:21 AM on 05/14/2010

What a way to start a day. These children did not deserve the treatment from this supposedly educated group of adults. What I remember most about this situation was hearing from one child in an interview. He said "I was APPALLED as to how I was treated."
This has been a great civics lesson and a teachable moment for both sides and one that they will remember for a lifetime and so will I. Good Job children, Lady justice smiled on you.

[SatinPanties]

10:30 AM on 05/14/2010

I agree with you completely.

However, this will only work if the white children would learn the lesson about how destructive bigotry and discrimination is. But having read how these white so-called adults behaved, they will probably instill and blame the black and latino kids for the closing of the pool, this creating more resentment and anothyer generation of bigots.

[mostlyharmless]

11:22 AM on 05/14/2010

that's the problem with the "teachable moment" perspective when it comes to racism . . . the one's being taught are those least in need of a lesson

the only hope here is that some of the white children will see their parents' hate for what it is . . . kids can tell when someone is being irrational . . . i myself was raised by virulent racists but, at a very young age, realized that they weren't making any sense . . . by age 10 i had tuned them out completely . . . used to sneak behind my mother's back to study black history, and i even painted a black history mural for my school . . . my all white school!

[roblabrousse]

09:02 AM on 05/14/2010

They should have honored their contract with these kids. All the other issues are valid but racial sensitization doesn't happen with the use of of battering ram. This invasion of young people was at the invitation of the club. We're all taken aback to dramatic changes in our environment. We don't like it. But they could have chosen a lot other alternatives to dealing with the situation. The closing of this club served no good purpose. The kids don't have that pool to go to. And the club members don't either. The chances are prejudices are more reinforced than ever. So what's there to celebrate, it certainly isn't a win for anybody. The cash dispersal will get spent and probably not used to advance any long range purpose to benefit these kids.... so it's more a hollow victory that has no victors.

[Kenright]

08:51 AM on 05/14/2010

So, does this mean the Democratic Black Caucas is going under to?. Let's hope so. Any kind of single ethnic group, holding goverment power, is not good.

[LauraNo]

08:57 AM on 05/14/2010

The single ethnic group that is made up of old white men is ok tho right?

[caad4]

10:26 AM on 05/14/2010

Fanned for life, laurano.

[bkrider9]

01:07 PM on 05/14/2010

Fanned.

[cltclt]

08:59 AM on 05/14/2010

Did you feel that way when white men held every position of power because some were afraid to compete with women, minorities, and gays? No, of course not. Please learn to spell and improve your grammar.

[Kenright]

09:29 AM on 05/14/2010

So, our Pres. is what?. Attorney General is what?, on and on. These guys are all white?.
Plus, anyone can play with the old white men, as you say. But, no one can join the DBC if thier not black, so come on and get reasonable, even if you can spell and provide great sentence structure, your lost in the woods.

[Kenright]

09:37 AM on 05/14/2010

Ol Cit, don't do spelling and grammer comments, there not cool. Everyone has a chance to join the debate, even if they were not as lucky to have a college education as you.
I was plowing fields at 13 and my parents didn't realize education was that important.

[ItHasToBeSaid]

08:24 AM on 05/14/2010

A great story to start the day! Well, alright!

[Haditup2here]

08:16 AM on 05/14/2010

Finally, some good news this week.