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Friday, September 4, 2009 9:47 PM CDT
Pool days about to end after cool, wet summer
By ROB STROUD, Staff Writer
rstroud@jg-tc.com
CHARLESTON — Saturday and Sunday will be the last days of a swimming season in which unseasonably cool weather has taken a heavy toll on attendance at the Rotary Community Aquatic Center.
The city’s public swimming facility is scheduled to be open noon-4 p.m. Saturday and 1-7 p.m. Sunday, weather and attendance levels permitting. The adjacent Putt-N-Swing batting cage and miniature golf facility is set to be open noon-4 p.m. Saturday and 1-8 p.m. Sunday before it too closes for the season. The facilities are closing early Saturday due to the nearby Charleston football game.
Director Brian Jones of the Charleston Parks and Recreation Department noted that the weather forecast for the weekend is a high of 80 degrees or a little more. Labor Day weekends in Charleston are often swelteringly hot, but apparently not this year.
“That has kind of been the story of the summer. The weather has kind of been strange,” Jones said, adding it has been one of the coolest summers he has experienced during his time with the recreation department.
Jones said the swimming facility closed nine days this summer when air temperatures dropped below 65 degrees, when rain fell, or when attendance dropped below 15 swimmers. He said the combination of unseasonably cool temperatures and rainy weather is a “bad formula” for attendance.
The swimming facility did start the season on a good note. Jones said facility took in 12,187 admissions in June of this year as opposed to 10,694 in June 2008.
“We had nine or 10 days of hot weather in June that really helped,” Jones said.
Jones said unseasonably cool and wet weather arrived in July, when attendance dropped to 5,862 from a level of 9,212 in July 2008.
The recreation director said attendance was 3,713 in August as the weather remained cool, but the swimming facility was only open on weekends after the Charleston school year started in mid-August. He these “school hours” were a cost cutting measure. Attendance was 5,221 in August 2008, when the facility was open seven days a week.
“We thank everyone who came out and used the facility this summer. We will hopefully will have better weather next year,” Jones said.
Contact Rob Stroud at rstroud@jg-tc.com or 238-6861.
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bob wrote on Sep 4, 2009 7:18 AM: