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What: Huber Heights Administration Committee meeting
When: 6 p.m. Tuesday
Where: City Hall, 6131 Taylorsville Road
The Kroger Aquatic Center at The Heights generated its highest attendance total this pool season since its inaugural year in 2012.
More than 45,000 people visited the aquatic center this summer — an increase from the last two years when attendance dropped to under 30,000 each year.
Huber Heights assistant city manager Scott Falkowski said advertising, promotions and hot weather on the weekends were all factors in the jump in attendance this year.
The total attendance was 45,094.
“We had some things going for us and it turned out to be a good season,” Falkowski said. “Overall, people really enjoyed utilizing this park. It’s a park amenity and it’s good to see that people are using it, as they use our other parks as well.”
The pool closed for the season on Sept. 7. Falkowski said the facility will be open next year from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day.
Councilman Mark Campbell, chair of the Administration Committee, said a year-end review of the aquatic center is scheduled to take place at Tuesday’s committee meeting.
Preliminary financial numbers could be available at that time, he said. Falkowski said he anticipates the city broke even or made money this summer.
“From my perspective, this was the best season ever,” Campbell said. “The facility is well-maintained. We did some marketing that really worked and paid dividends. There were no incidents at the pool, and every time I showed up there, it seemed like everyone was enjoying the facility and having fun.”
The YMCA manages the city-owned aquatic center, located at 8625 Brandt Pike. Tiffany Foxx, executive director of the Huber Heights YMCA, was out of the office and unavailable for comment.
After nearly 87,000 people visited the aquatic center in 2012 when it opened, attendance dipped to 29,282 in 2013 and 28,351 last year. City leaders cited the cool summer weather as the leading cause for the decrease in attendance and revenue.
The aquatic center lost $63,719 in 2014. Combined over the first three years, Huber Heights generated a net profit of $74,416 from the aquatic center.
There are no plans to upgrade or expand the aquatic center going into 2016, Falkowski said.
Last month, Huber Heights resident Thomas Wood sent a letter to city officials formally requesting the city terminate its management agreement with the YMCA for the pool, stating the YMCA breached its management agreement.
Falkowski said he expects the issue to be addressed during the year-end review.
Other water attractions in the area also saw an increase in attendance.
Adventure Reef Water Park at Kettering Recreation Complex saw about 60,000 visitors this season, about a 10,000-person increase over last season, according to facility manager Sonja Rom.
“It was one of those situations where I don’t know if people – where it finally got to where it wasn’t raining anymore, they just wanted to be out in the sun, you know, and it was beautiful outside towards the middle of July and August,” she said.
Rom said it was a slow start to the season with rain and storms closing the water park.
“It looked like we were down 59 hours closed due to the weather as opposed to 39 in 2014,” she said.
Stepfanie Salyer says she and her children missed out on the water park due to rain in the beginning of the season.
“As the summer went on, it got hotter and more sunny, so it was easier to go out there with them,” she said.
The warmer weather could have played a role in increasing revenue for local water parks. Tippecanoe Family Aquatic Center in Tipp City had already drawn in more than $260,000 by the middle of August. Adventure Reef also saw an increase in revenue.
“Last year in 2014, it was around $160,000 for just the water park,” Rom added. “This year … August is not finalized yet, it looks like it will be upwards of $200,000.”
Staff writer Lauren Stephenson also contributed to this report.
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