Beede Swim & Fitness Center is set to add a dryland training room where young divers can rehearse skills before entering the pool. Concord officials have approved plans for the 1,300-square-foot facility on the northwest side of the Beede building; the project is funded entirely by donations, and construction crews are set to break ground this fall.
The project honors Maisey O'Donnell, a Concord-Carlisle High School diver who won two state Division I diving championships and planned to keep competing at Williams College before she died, according to The Concord Bridge. She was one of three Concord-Carlisle High School seniors who died from injuries suffered in a car crash in April 2025. Her family first presented plans for the training center to the recreation committee in the summer of 2025, and what began as a roughly 1,000-square-foot concept has since grown into the approved 1,300-square-foot design.
A Space Built Around Her Memory
Updated plans for the center include a memory wall honoring Maisey O'Donnell's achievements. Robert Pierce said the wall is intended to inspire the divers who will train there, while Leigh Jackson described the interior plans as exceptionally beautiful. The facility will include a trampoline and other equipment allowing divers to practice skills before entering the pool, building on earlier descriptions of a trampoline-and-harness setup meant to let athletes rehearse technique on dry land.
Dryland Training at Beede
Beede has long served the high school’s swim and dive program: the Concord Recreation Commission’s 2012 annual report said the center hosted the team for practices and home meets. Concord Recreation’s January 2026 member handbook places Beede on the Concord-Carlisle Regional High School campus and lists a diving well. The planned room would give divers space to work on skills on land before moving to the pool. USA Diving’s aerial-training guidance says coaches considering out-of-belt somersaults on dryland trampolines or dryboards should put safety first and weigh the facility, local conditions and each athlete’s abilities.
Maisey's mother, Betsy O'Donnell, said the Beede Swim & Fitness Center was her daughter's home away from home, and called the training center a fitting way to honor her. Her father, Christoph O'Donnell, thanked the hundreds of donors who have contributed to the effort and told the planning board the project could not be built without that donor support.
Nearly Six Months of Work Ahead
Jessica Porter told the Recreation Commission on September 21 that the project was nearly ready to begin. According to Lowell “Sandy” Smith, the O'Donnells plan to break ground during Thanksgiving weekend 2026, timed so that Maisey's friends will be home from college for the occasion, he told The Concord Bridge. Smith said construction is expected to take roughly six months, with the center expected to open in spring 2027 if weather permits.
The timeline marks a shift from earlier hopes: the family had initially hoped to finish the project in time for Thanksgiving 2026, and a January report said the team was aiming to break ground in May with an eye toward having the facility ready for the 2026-27 diving season. The project has moved from an initial proposal into a planning phase focused on securing contracts and permits, and Porter said the dryland center's construction will overlap with work on a new amenities building at Memorial Field.
Parking Changes and Stormwater Upgrades
Construction crews will alter parking arrangements at Beede during the work, and Porter asked people to be patient with parking disruptions while building continues. Despite the shuffling, the project is designed to leave the finished property with no fewer parking spaces than it has today. Part of the property will also be converted into landscaped areas designed to let stormwater seep into the ground.
The entire project remains funded through philanthropy rather than town money. Earlier fundraising updates showed the family had raised close to $400,000 by July 2025 from more than 670 contributors, about half of them Concord residents, with the total estimated project cost running between $750,000 and $1 million. By September 2025, the O'Donnells said they had raised more than $400,000 and secured pledges covering the rest, and the School Committee unanimously praised the family's plan for the facility. Community support has continued since, including a Swim-a-Lot fundraiser held on February 25 benefiting the Maisey O'Donnell Fund.
Boston Area Diving head coach Joe Chirico has said the training room would be the first facility of its kind in the New England area, giving the project significance beyond Concord's own diving program. For now, the O'Donnell family and town officials are focused on getting shovels in the ground this fall, aiming to turn a tribute to Maisey O'Donnell into a working training space for the divers who come after her.
