Q How much does it cost to operate the Jones Aquatic Center per day? How many people need to attend each day for it to break even? Has anyone ever thought about opening the park later?
A On average, it costs $1,563 per day to run the Jones Aquatic Center during swimming season, according to Connie Smith, assistant recreation director for the Emporia Recreation Commission. To make that back would take about 350 swimmers a day, she said, depending on how many are children and how many adult. As an example, she said, one combination could be 170 adults and 172 children.
“There could be 10 billion combinations ... but it averages about 350 people a day,” Smith said.
Unfortunately, that’s a target the pool has rarely hit this year. In the first six weeks of the swimming season, the aquatic center has reached or passed an attendance of 350 only three times. The biggest crowd came on June 23, an 86-degree day that drew 374 people.
Why are so few coming? Check the skies. Rain has frequently shrunk attendance this year, when it hasn’t closed the pool entirely. That was certainly true in the first week of the season, which began just before Memorial Day and ended with a total count of 341 people for the entire week.
Should the pool season start later then? Smith said that’s never been discussed. What has been proposed is ending the season earlier, to avoid the drop-off that happens when school starts. The season traditionally ends on Labor Day (Sept. 3 this year) but city officials are considering moving that up to Aug. 12. No final decision has been made yet.
Smith noted that any opening date is still going to have to gamble with the weather.
“Opening Day last year was 90-degree weather,” she said. “We were just unfortunate that this year it was rain and 70-degree weather. You can never tell what Mother Nature is going to do.”
esufan24 (anonymous) says...
You know what its called, PROMOTION!! Promote the pool! On Father's Day a dad could get into the pool for free. WHO KNEW THAT?? On that day not even the lifeguards knew that so they could tell their fathers. On 4th of July everybody was half price, again WHO KNEW!?! Get some programs going on out there and maybe people will come. Emporia Recreation Commission shouldn't just hire an aquatic supervisor just to fill a spot, hire somebody with experience and who cares about the job! Thumbs down rec. board
July 14, 2007 at 5:16 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
4Jayhawks (anonymous) says...
I personally think the location has a lot to do with lack of attendance. If they had built it in town in a more central location they would have better business. Just my opinion.
July 14, 2007 at 8:59 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
cookatwork (anonymous) says...
Personally, we would go more, if it were open later. We go on Friday evenings during family swim night; the pool is open until 8pm.
July 15, 2007 at 8:50 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
lisag (anonymous) says...
4Jayhawks........but if they'd built it in a more central location, it wouldn't look so nice from the turnpike as people are whizzing past Emporia (or was that the reason, to make Emp. look good no matter the inacessibilty/cost?).
July 15, 2007 at 9:26 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
hjcary (anonymous) says...
We visited Emporia over July 4th and we went to the center I think it was July 3rd and there were almost more life guards there then were swimmers. My dad and I's disappointment was that they had not taken care of the pool and had allowed it to get so cloudy that the deep ends were all closed to swimmers since the life guards could not see the bottom. Unfortunatly the deep end is what I was most looking forward to. I grew up with a diving pool in my back yard and it has been probably 13 yrs at least since I have had a chance to DIVE into a pool and I was looking forward to that. If I had come on my own without my kids I would have wanted my money back. My dad and I came together so that one of us could watch the kids and the other could dive and vise versa. instead we had to just hang out in the shallow water and watch the kids.
July 16, 2007 at 8:29 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
daveedailey (anonymous) says...
Emporia just loves to spend money. They do not care where it goes as long as the brown nosers get what they want. The aquatic center is just like the clock, the court house, and the idea of corridors. Makes sense to those of us that pay increasing taxes?(LOL) I do hope the people of Emporia really think when election time rolls around. Maybe, we should find concerned citizens that are interested in saving the tax payer money instead of wasting our dollars. I still think an audit of the cities spending would help with some of the questions we have. How ever, it would have to be from out of town or state, god forbid we hire Emporia.
July 16, 2007 at 12:26 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
dayjob55 (anonymous) says...
Whatever happened to fiscal responsibility. The generation running our city/county/state/federal government was raised by people who wanted to make darn sure that their kids had things better & easier than they did. They had gone through the depression & WWII & just wanted things better for their kids. Can't blame them for that. But they passed it on to this generation who doesn't have any common sense and/or work ethic. And the price that we are paying now is unbelievable. We have a society that wants everything right now and bigger and better than the guy next door. What has happened to saving for something. I know that's a foreign idea but the whole point is that you put some money back each month until you have the money to pay for it UP FRONT!!! How much would that have saved in interest? The same goes for the courthouse, the clock tower, the roundabout, etc. Were we trying to keep up with Burlington by building that white elephant on the west side of town? Did people really think that by having a big fancy pond to splash in that no one would go to Burlington? Half the fun of going over there was just to go someplace different instead of Emporia. By the time enough money was saved for the pool someone might have discovered that the town really couldn't afford it in the first place. And yes, Dave, we do need an audit around here. But with everyone in everyone elses back pocket around here I want an audit done by someone who comes from a long, long way away from here.
July 16, 2007 at 12:39 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Mommy_15 (anonymous) says...
Personally, I would go to the pool more if it was open earlier in the day, say 9 am. I would love to take my child there and tire him out before naptime.
On a different note I have been disappointed in the Aquatic center lately. I tried to take my family on Sat. and Sun. (the two hottest days so far) and they were closed to the public due to a swim meet. Also, the last time I was there trying to enjoy the lazy river I was told that I had to be on a tube on my back. Not a big deal if I am by myself, but when you have a small child and are 8 months pregnant how do you all fit on a tube. It's not like the water is too deep and I can't walk and hold on to the tube with my child inside, plus there are two lifeguards standing there in case anything happens.
July 16, 2007 at 1:14 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
daveedailey (anonymous) says...
What a real dissappointment this "pool" has become. Look back and see who allowed for it and fight with them. It was not built to benefit the whole town, just a few. Why could not the swim meet be held at the high school?
July 16, 2007 at 1:25 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
LocalGuy (anonymous) says...
Dave,
Just so you know the Emporia Swim Club pays to have the meet at the aquatic center. The school district is doing work on the high school pool so they can't use that. The problem really is with all the poeple that the rec has on the payroll. I guess they need to get a private business owner in there to show them how to make money with the place instead of always losing money.
July 16, 2007 at 1:35 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Genesius (anonymous) says...
While I understand that hind sight is 20/20 and there are many things that may not have been the best way to spend money, best choice of location, etc. What is done is done. It serves no purpose to bring up the situations that can not be changed. However, we do have the opportunity as a community to try and find ways to improve our future.
In regards to the city pool, I think that better promotion is a key. Couldn’t the gazette work out a deal with the Recreation Department and advertise pool information once or twice a week. Wouldn’t it be awesome if parents knew the schedules for L-cat buses to the pool so that they could save on transportation?
As a community it would be so nice if we could focus or energy on the things that CAN be done instead of whining and complaining about what has already been done and can’t be changed now. You don’t like it, Vote! Educate other voters! Get involved in your city/ county/ state government. Encourage others to join you in a positive and constructive way. Having positive outlooks, ideas, and personalities goes a long way in the world of change.
July 16, 2007 at 1:45 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
siamesefred (anonymous) says...
Promotion would be great, but what's stopping parents (or the teenagers) from picking up the phone and finding the information for themselves? Info like pool hours, bus schedules.
I think part of the problem is that times have changed. Even if the pool were more accessible by bike, how many parents in Emporia are REALLY comfortable having their kids running around town alone?
Maybe I'm too small town, but I wouldn't be comfortable having my kids walk or ride bikes to the aquatic center, even if I lived around the high school area.
July 16, 2007 at 7:37 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jewely33 (anonymous) says...
I agree with several comments - Promote the Pool! Advertise Specials! Hours of operation need to be extended both morning and evening! Fix the Cloudy Water! I think that the pool is a great activity for our community and it could be utilized more. As far as when to close - maybe remain open weekends through Labor Day after school starts.
July 16, 2007 at 9:06 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
yankee (anonymous) says...
I know the reason why I did not go often to the aquatic center is because it costs too much!!!! I find that even the punch cards cost too much. I now live in a different state. This town has two aquatic parks and they are always packed every day unless the weather is bad. I paid $99.00 for a pool membership for my family of 4. This is the price regardless of how many family members. This $99.00 is paid up front and is good for the entire summer for as many visits as you want. This is much more attractive to a family. I think there would be a positive response from the community if the Rec. Center offered something like this. This way operating costs would be taken care of before they even opened and then daily revenue would be icing on the cake and maybe they would be in the black instead of the red all the time!
July 17, 2007 at 3:23 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
UserName (anonymous) says...
I have to agree with the comments about location, and ignoring that fact by saying it's past history or water under the bridge doesn't address the problem.
I don't have statistics, but I would imagine that 90% of the users are young people (18 and under) and probably don't have transportation.
In many households, both parents have to work to make ends meet and probably spend their weekends catching up on chores around the house. They simply don't have time to bring their kids to the pool every weekend.
The majority of potential users don't have a safe way to get to the pool - as one poster already observed, I sure wouldn't feel comfortable having my children walk or ride a bicycle all the way over to the aquatic park.
In addition to advertising and promotion, why not provide transportation (school buses) to the aquatic park a few times per month. We certainly pay enough taxes - in addition to the unbelievable registration fees (aren't our taxes supposed to pay for our schools???) that we could have three our four buses pick up kids in central locations and bring them to the pool.
July 17, 2007 at 9:15 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )