Articles
Five Benefits of Vinyl Pool Liners
Parks and rec department swimming pools depend on vinyl pool liners to keep pools looking beautiful, season after season. Vinyl pool liners have many advantages over concrete, gunite, and fiberglass alternatives, making vinyl the best choice for fast, comfortable, stress-free enjoyment.
Design A More Inclusive Aquatic Facility
Most people who think about accessibility in aquatic facilities probably consider pool features such as lifts, ramps, and stairs. While aquatic function is the primary purpose of such a facility, they should not overlook the role that supporting facilities play in the overall user experience.
Remaining Relevant
To remain relevant and attract visitors, municipal aquatic centers must make upgrades and add interest despite the challenges presented by budget constraints and the fluctuations brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of forced closures of facilities, many aquatic leaders lost revenue, and funding for programs was cut, although some cities have managed to pass referenda during that time to start projects.
Swimming Upstream
Hagan Community Park is a household name in the greater Sacramento region, an iconic site in Rancho Cordova, and home to countless family reunions, business end-of-year picnics, the Hagan Community Barn animals, and more.
Dream Big, Then Return To Reality
For most public-sector agencies, building an aquatic center or multi-purpose facility with aquatic components is a rare undertaking. These centers are often some of the most popular and well-used by the community, but they are neither easy nor inexpensive to build and operate.
How To Design Inclusive Play On Splash Pads
Chris Thomas of Water Odyssey contributes an article on the importance of inclusion at aquatic facilities.
Caring For Aquatic Facilities
With many aquatic facilities in prolonged shutdown due to COVID-19, staff members face ongoing maintenance issues to ensure that pools and their environments do not decline. Left unattended, culprits
Countdown To Opening Day
It’s an exciting time in aquatics, as new and updated facility projects are in the works all over the country. In all instances, operations and operation planning tend to be dramatically different in new facilities. Larger
The Three S’s
With the summer season upon us, aquatic operators across the country are preparing their facilities, training their team members, and doing their best not to pull their hair out! Seeing that facility operations
Crowded Waters
Aquatic centers are facing increasing pressure to accommodate diverse programming, everything from baby aerobics to water yoga. Everyone wants a part of the pool. Too often, debates over the design can
Managing Aquatic Facilities
“Aquatic manager” is a fairly common designation in the world of pool management. The manager oversees competition, open-swim, therapy, and instructional pools, as well as water parks ranging from
For The Community, By The Community
In East Naples, Fla., options for summertime recreation were limited to indoor activities or suffering in the heat of the sun. While Collier County is a coastal community, not everyone in East Naples has access to the
Aquatic Facility Maintenance
My motto for aquatics has always been, “Proactive—not reactive.” Although the phrase applies to every facet of the industry, it unequivocally applies to maintenance. Being proactive means being well ahead of
Closed For Maintenance
Closed for maintenance—these are three words that parks and rec professionals and patrons do not enjoy seeing posted on the front door of any rec facility. However, when they apply to
Avoid The White Elephant
The “valley of ashes” in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby was a real place, known in Fitzgerald’s time as the Corona Ash Dumps.
Cost Calculators
Every year, facility managers sit down to review their operating costs and every year there is a huge figure that never seems to shrink: the electricity cost.
Develop A System For Success
At the Greensboro Aquatic Center (GAC) in N.C., maintenance is an ongoing, full-time endeavor. With three bodies of water, a therapy pool, a competition pool, and a dive well, the GAC totals 1.5-million gallons of water in a 67,000 sf building.
You're Not Alone!
As the president of the North Texas Aquatics Association, I recently surveyed aquatic professionals to determine the challenges and obstacles they are facing.
It's A Numbers Game
PhotoCourtesy Of Charles Davis Smith PhotographyIn a world where the goal is achieving close to 100-percent cost recovery, aquatic operators not only have to balance chemicals on a daily basis, but
A Star-Studded Lineup
К Photos Courtesy of the City of CarlsbadКAquatic facilities and community parks across the country are not merely locations for exercise and well-being for the average resident, but they can also fos