New facility’s attendance was seven times more than former pool
By Jason Arndt
Staff Writer
In its inaugural year, the Burlington Community Aquatic Center prospered and far exceeded expectations, with a reported attendance of more than 38,000.
Not surprisingly, more pool memberships were issued than anticipated, according to Director Jeanne Otter.
“It was fabulous. The response was overwhelming,” Otter said. “People came from everywhere, once they walked through the doors, they were amazed.”
As for memberships, she estimated 250 would be issued, but the multi-million dollar facility sold more than 800 total memberships.
The prosperous season, Otter said, went well beyond the 4,900 the former pool brought in during its final season in 2017.
“They didn’t start tearing down the old pool until after Labor Day last year,” said Otter, who credited Scherrer Construction for its management services. “It was pretty amazing to get it done.”
The finished product, which only took about nine months, left staff with a two-weeks to learn the features of the new facility.
Features include two pools, a current channel, three large water slides, two diving boards, and a rock-climbing wall, among other amenities.
“We literally got in two weeks before it opened,” she said. “There was a lot of onsite training.”
To meet state rules for waterparks, lifeguards were mandated to take an additional four-hour training course.
Next year, Otter expects to see an easier start-up.
“We will run much smoother because the majority of our staff is coming back,” she said.
Considering the unexpected demand, Otter has also started to prepare for next year, when the pool will see 12 newly trained lifeguards.
This year, the pool had 18-19 lifeguards on staff, with most returning for the 2019 season.
“We had about 18 or 19 lifeguards throughout most of the summer. At the end of our season, we did our lifeguard training and got 12 new ones,” Otter said.
“Not all of them are coming back, some of them have commitments at school and other things,” she added.
According to state mandate, the Aquatic Center is required to have at least seven lifeguards on duty.
To read the complete story, see the Aug. 30 edition of the Burlington Standard Press.
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