O’Donnell family eyes Thanksgiving opening for memorial dive center
The Maisey O’Donnell Dryland Training Room is one step closer to becoming a reality after a recent Select Board vote.
Acton could mark this Thanksgiving by opening a diving facility honoring the late Maisey O’Donnell.
Project supporters still have a few hurdles to clear, and the timeline is tentative, “but that’s the goal,” Maisey’s father, Christoph, told the Select Board.
Maisey was one of three Acton-Carlisle High School seniors who died last year following a Florida car accident. She was a champion diver, and her family proposed the Maisey O’Donnell Dryland Training Room to carry out her wish for such a practice setup.
The room will be an addition to the Beede Swim and Fitness Center. It will include a trampoline and a harness system to help divers safely hone their skills outside the pool.
The O’Donnells fundraised and won broad support for the project in recent months.
A new agreement charts a path for the non-profit C.C. Pools Inc. to hire contractors and build the addition. Officials used a similar process to build the Beede Center on CCHS property in the 2000s. The Select Board approved this plan on January 12.
Town-managed projects can be more expensive and move more slowly than private ones due in part to public procurement laws.
The O’Donnells estimated the new room could cost up to $1 million. They’re not seeking town money and say they’ve rallied enough donations to cover the cost.
Christoph O’Donnell said they were “already in the planning phase” to secure contracts. The team also needs various permits for the project.
Maisey’s mother, Betsy, told The Acton Bridge that the team hopes to break ground in May.
The facility would be open in time for the 2026-27 diving season. A Thanksgiving ribbon cutting “would be perfect,” she said, because many of Maisey’s friends would be in town for the holiday.
“It would be awesome,” she said. “That’s the hope.”
