MOUNT VERNON – Hiawatha Park Pool had a strong reopening last year after being closed in 2020 because of the pandemic, with 40,599 total visitors for the season.
July was the top month with 16,641 visits, City Councilmember Amber Keener, chair of the Parks and Land committee, said during Monday's City Council meeting.
Weather kept the pool closed 10 days in 2021.
“There were some situations where we had lifeguard shortages, but that did not close the pool completely,” she said. “It closed one portion of the pool, but not the whole thing.”
Keener said the pool’s first year back after the pandemic was solid.
The city has approximately 6 years before it finishes paying off debt service on the approximately $4 million for construction of Hiawatha Park Pool.
Auditor Terry Scott told City Council during its meeting Monday that 2019 overall expenditures for the pool were just above $615,000, with $221,000 going to pay debt service.
In 2021, the expenditures were $610,700 and debt service was $223,000 of that total. The $387,000 net expenditures were less than what the city paid in 2019, he said.
“What was the impact of our shutdown in 2020? There's always a loss on the pool, and it just dawned on me: I wonder what the impact was not even opening at all?” Councilmember John Francis said.
The city had no revenue from memberships or daily use admission fees, Scott said. Expenditures were down to $10,000 to $13,000, with the pool system run on the advice of consultants to keep it operational. Debt service still had to be paid.
In 2022, the city will offer aquatic high intensity interval training and lap swimming, Keener said.
The YMCA will take over the Tot Lot program, which he said should be more efficient and require less labor – and less cost – for the city. Creating the partnership should get new people to the pool.
“I can tell you there was an abundance of attendance for those youngsters. So it's nice to partner with somebody like the YMCA because they already have those youth programs within their programs,” Scott said.
Pre-sales for memberships have begun with reduced prices through a postmark date of April 30, he said.
“What percentage of the income comes from memberships as opposed to daily pay?” Council President Bruce Hawkins asked.
Scott said memberships make up the largest portion of the revenue, with 75% to 80% coming from memberships.
Household membership is $200, with nonresident households paying $250 for the season. For individuals ages 6 to 59, the cost will be $95 for residents and $125 for nonresidents. Passes for children ages 1 to 5 are $50, with nonresident children paying $75. Seniors 60 and older pay $55 for a season pass, with nonresidents paying $80.
Membership costs will increase by $20 after May 1.
The pool will close on a Tuesday, two days before school starts, Scott said.
“We have a real challenge on staffing because at this point, all the college kids have gone back,” he said. “Now it just leaves us with regular high school and now all of a sudden, we've either got sports, band or some other programs already starting to take up their time. So we have determined it was not profitable to continue doing it that way.”
The retirement of Jerry Clinger from the city’s parks and recreation department has the administration considering eventually hiring a full-time recreation director to take educational approaches and a lifelong approach to recreation similar to what Knox County does.
“We're not there yet. I'm just telling you what we're trying to work toward,” Starr said.
