RAPID CITY, SD—The City’s Parks and Recreation Department today announced the schedule for summer closure of city pools. Many seasonal workers begin leaving in mid-August with the start of high school and many colleges scheduled for later this month.
The last day for swimming at the Horace Mann and Parkview pools this summer season is Saturday, August 20. The Roosevelt Swim Center’s indoor facility will also close at the end of pool hours August 20 for its annual maintenance and will reopen Tuesday, September 6 with all group exercise classes resuming September 6. The Swim Center’s outdoor 50-meter pool will remain open through Labor Day Monday, September 5.
The last day for the Jimmy Hilton pool at Sioux Park is scheduled for Sunday, August 28. The facility will host the annual Wags & Waves dog swim on Sunday, September 4.
“We will lose most of our lifeguards and other seasonal staff in a few weeks,” said City Aquatics Program Specialist Barb Iwan. “We have to make adjustments and we work very hard to keep one of the outdoor pools and the Swim Center’s outdoor 50-meter pool open to Labor Day weekend.”
Iwan says the availability of staff is monitored daily and in the closing days of summer operations, adjustments may be made in hours of operation at the pools that remain open to the public.
**POOL NUMBERS**
Rapid City pool facilities have reported more than 60,000 swimmers in June and July, down six percent from the record 64,000 swimmers reported during the same two-month period last summer. City pools were closed during the summer of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are the numbers for each facility for June and July of 2022 compared to 2021.
“We’ve had some hot days this summer but not as many as last summer,” said Iwan. “And last summer, we opened to record numbers since the pools had been closed the previous year due to COVID. Despite the slight decrease, it’s been a busy summer at our pools.”
Attendance has been down slightly at three of the four pool facilities in June and July. The Swim Center reported an increase in attendance.
June/July June/July
FACILITY 2022 2021
Roosevelt Swim Center 23,476 22,600
Horace Mann 11,781 13,702
Jimmy Hilton 13,883 16,208
Parkview 11,161 11,586
TOTAL 60,301 64.096
Original source can be found here
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