Local pools report successful season opening weekend

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Both Greenwood and Indianapolis Parks and Recreation departments had some concerns with the weather last week, but report that opening weekend exceeded expectations.

The pool at Perry Aquatic Center in Indianapolis has come to life.

“Kids always love coming to swim in the summer, so they’re just kind of waiting to get out of school to come be able to swim every day,” Perry pool manager Kate Schutte said.

Perry is one of eight Indianapolis parks and rec pools that opened Saturday.

Schutte said she’s pleased with the attendance numbers of about 70 people every day this weekend.

“I had opening season jitters this weekend but after seeing how my lifeguards did and hearing how the other pools were doing, I’m really excited about how the summer is going to go,” she said.

Other pools, like the brand new Freedom Springs Aquatic Park, opened in Greenwood Saturday.

“Everything went off really well, I think we had a consistent occupancy load of 700 to 800 people throughout the day,” Greenwood Director of Parks and Recreation Rob Taggart said.

He said daily ticket sales and season pass sales went well beyond what he anticipated.

“We got $11,000 in sales on Saturday and that was just here at the aquatics facility,” he said.

Season passes were also sold at the community center.

“If you were to plan the best opening you could, that had to be it,” Taggart said, “We had a really good opening.”

The facility did not open Memorial Day because of storms in the area, but Taggart hopes the momentum from the weekend can keep business coming throughout the week and the rest of the summer.

“We are all really happy with those numbers and going forward we hope we can consistently keep that number going,” he said.

The three big water slides are one of the big attractions for the new aquatic center in Greenwood.

It also has a lazy river, a lap pool, and a splash area for the really young kids.