With a new schedule in place the Golden Swimming Pool is being prepared for another season.
Manager of Recreational Services Jordan Petrovics has been working with local groups who use the facility to set up the most efficient schedule for the facility.
“The overall goal of the changes to our historic pool schedule is to create some weekday consistency with our public programs. It is much easier for us to grow the popularity of programs like our morning lane swimming, when they are happening every day of the week,” Petrovics said.
One of the biggest changes to the schedule according to Petrovics is the introduction of a consistent public lane swim program during weekday mornings.
“Public can now lane swim Monday to Friday mornings, compared to the three days a week offered in the past (Mon / Wed / Fri). Our morning public lane swim is a very popular program and by introducing a consistent five day a week program, we will likely be able to increase the number of people who are engaged in the morning lane swim program.” Petrovics said. “
Morning lane swim has been a popular program in the past and many pool users have expressed the interest that they would like to be able to have access to the pool during all week days,” he said.
Another change in the schedule is the shift in the times for our Aqua Fit and Kayak role to earlier in the evening.
“The goal of attracting more people as the times for these programs are more convenient for the participant. Programs like Aqua Fit have the potential to attract a great variety of people, however it is hard to grow the numbers with a program that starts at 8:30 p.m. as many people do not want to ‘work out’ after 8:30 p.m. (last year’s start time). This year Aqua Fit and Kayak role start at 7:30 p.m.,” Petrovics explained.
In the summer months the facility has added an hour of time to the afternoon public swim and stopped hosting the 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. public swim as the participants at the evening swim have been very low.
“As the time falls into dinner hours and bed times for younger kids. Adding an hour to the already popular afternoon swim, is going to have a great impact on the visitor experience,” he said. “The reasoning that the evening public swim is not on this year’s schedule, is that the public swim had a very poor attendance. On average, attendance would be 5 -10 people over this two hour window.”
Petrovics went on to say that even though some of the changes had to happen it was important to have consultations with the public and groups.
“The changes to the exclusive and self-guarded use of the pool was non-negotiable. To meet best practices and safety protocol the Town (operator of the facility) made this change. However, consultation directly with the swim club on the times the club uses the pool, the impact on other public programs and figuring out a schedule that works for both the club and the other public users was an extremely import part of implementing this change. Town council has identified that staff need to investigate ways to increase the use at rec facilities and broaden the public access during prime times.”
Additionally all local schools run programs at the pool during school hours through May and June.
To ensure that these changes are working well, the pool staff are planning to introduce comment cards and provide a feedback e-mail address allowing Town to compile constructive written feedback from the general public. The staff are also going to be diligent with tracking use and getting statistical information that can be used to help make sustainable and smart decisions in the future.
The other facility that has also supported some of the reasoning for pool scheduling changes is the Spray Park located directly beside the pool. The facility will be open daily from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. for everyone (summer months).
“As a small seasonal outdoor pool our team is doing its best to provide opportunities for a variety of users to enjoy the facility and investigating ways to accommodate as many of people as possible. To help ensure the programming is working for as many residents as possible the pool will be introducing formal comment cards and a feedback e-mail address this season,” Petrovics said.
“The team is looking forward to getting the facility open for public on May 19 and welcoming everyone back for another summer of fun. Swimming lesson registration night is happening on Monday May 14th from 6 p.m. – 8 p.m.”
