Aquatic Center Wraps Up Season Sept 4th

Aquatic Center Wraps Up Season Sept 4th

Matt Grohe, Hampton Chronicle

P1: Poolgoers get their last Hampton Aquatic Center fix Sunday before the center closed for the season Monday Sept 4th at 5pm.

The aquatic center wrapped up a tumultuous season Monday, Sept 4th, after overcoming equipment and staffing challenges to stay open through its thirteenth year of operation. The facility filled up and hit capacity Monday, as temps reached 95 degrees under a blazing sun and clear blue skies, turning away new entrants until guest vacated spots.

This year’s season opening was delayed by leaks in aging PVC fittings that necessitated removing part of the pool deck and hiring a leak detection company out of Omaha. Once all the problems were located, parts were ordered and installed, the concrete deck repaired, and the center opened for the season June 11th. 

In mid-July the facility was impacted again by an unforeseen complication coming in the form of a revocation of lifeguard certifications in north central Iowa by the American Red Cross. Nearly all the lifeguards at the pool had to be recertified due to training deficiencies, as per Red Cross guidelines, a process which cut another week out of the season. 

Zayden Erdman, who was the manager on duty Saturday, said that the center has on average 5-8 guards on duty around the pool, 2 -4 concession and front desk workers and one “top of the slide” person for a shift. 

Erdman, who is a 5 year employee and also a guard at the pool, said on average the center saw about 100-200 guests a day and did not hit max capacity during the season, which is 360, although they got close, until apparently the last day.  The facility reported 260 passes sold this year. 

For guest accommodation around the pool the center offers five canopies, forty four chaises lounges and seven benches, with the concession area featuring 7 benches that seat 8, for a seating total of around 114. On Saturday all lounges and benches were full, and the concession area was half seated, so it appeared that there were around 125 people lounging and splashing under a very strong sun. 

The pool is sectioned into five different areas, a dive area with high and low dives that is 13 ½ ft deep, a middle section for swimming that is 5ft, a shallower section that is 3 ½ ft with tethered shark and basketball hoop, and a 3 ft to zero kids area that has a lazy river, water feature with dumping bucket, 3 spouts, 3 water jets, quad kids slide, and double toddler slide. There are also two large water slides, one circular and one straight that dump into a slide pool. 

Guards sit in two chairs around the pool area, with another standing between the water slide, and two more flanking the kids quad slide to the east and the west, with a top of slide person rounding out the deck crew. Erdman said there were no medical emergencies this year thankfully, but a few “saves” which helped avoid injury due to the quick actions of the response crew around the pool, just a “few bloody noses and stubbed toes.” .

Zayden said Saturday’s crowd was a lot of people from outside the are “coming to enjoy one of the last pools open in northern Iowa.” Erdman was one of the guards impacted by the Red Cross action and was working the day they got the call that they had to close down under everyone got recertified. Erdman thanked the city for their response to the situation, which involved arranging  three days of training for different groups to get everyone certified as fast as possible. 

 The Aquatic Center opened to the public as part of upgrades to Progress Park on May 28, 2011 and completed its thirteenth season of operation Monday September 4th at 5pm.