Pool building upgrades???

We moved from an area with a local pool. It had a snack bar that sold soft pretzels, shushies, bottled water, gatorade, hot dogs, ect. There was never a "code Orange" issue. If anything, it may encourage the children to stay better hydrated.

 

With some of these items, you may need a separate permit from the health department. Just something to consider.

 

We mostly used Summerbrooke pool because of the age of my toddler. Would definately love to see an additional long canopy there for shading. Because so many young children use that pool, I often see their younger siblings (i.e., infants) parked in the shade. The one canopy area there gets crowded really fast, so would love to see more space underneath shaded areas. Also, would love to have a water machine there to buy bottled water as well as making sure the pumps are in working order for the water features there. My toddler really enjoyed the pool this year. We are lucky to have that pool in our community with the "beach" entrance!

 

yea, more shade structures at SB pool because of the higher amount of little kids there. I am not sure I would go so far as doing the snack bar idea, but perhaps add a couple of vending machines for snack diversity. I remember growing up with the snack bar at the pool and I loved it. But I think there would have to be more space for this.

Longer hours would be one of my top changes - to 9:00 PM. That was always the standard I remember.

 

We'd also vote for more shade options and also vote to keep the pool open on weekends only September and possibly October?

 

I second Kahlua1's vote.

 

By October it is too cold for a pool that isn't heated. Most pools that stay open past labor day are only open for two additional weekends.

 

Hey, a heated pool. I like that idea. How much would that cost?

 

More than it's worth

 

How about a bubble (like you see over tennis courts) to keep the SW pool open all year long? I bet you could rent out the space for swim team use to help offset the costs.

But, my #1 choice is more shade structures to keep me from bubbling.

-Jim

 

What about getting pool covers like the one in Ashburn Farm behind the Library? I also second the snack bar idea!

 

I am not sure about anyone else, but I am all for a way to "scan" your pool pass and then actually keep it with you, like they do at the gym. Standing in line to pick up your passes with children upset that they have to leave is a pain. Not to mention, the last day the pool was open the lifeguard gave my pool pass to someone else. Then he offered to give me her pool pass instead!! Anyone out there with a pool pass that doesn't belong to them???

 

Does this mean the scanning system never ended up working? I hope it gets fixed by next season!!

 

I've never seen them "scan out". They just hand you the card and go on to the next person...

 

And they've never scanned my card going into the pool either...they just take it

 

Your right!

 

Maybe Staci could give us an update on the scanning system which was new for this last season. Did the server ever get upgraded? Was she happy with the system? Are there upgrades needed for next year to get it to work more consistently?

 

Hi all thanks for the great ideas.

to address some of them
Snack bar: I think it is a great idea but do not see it as possible for several reasons.
1 cost - It will probably cost us several $100,000's to build out and equip just a minimal snack bar and that is using the existing foundation at SW pool's snack area. 2. Employees to run it - Around here we have a hard enough time getting enough people to work as guards to keep the pools running let alone getting people willing to work in a snack bar. 3 Management and health codes - And I am not sure if any of the pool companies around here are even willing to manage such a thing so there would be the added expense of hiring another management company to over see daily operations as well as make sure we comply with health codes etc. To me this would just be a nightmare.

Shade/Furniture: I am all for getting more shade structures and furniture. I am right now working on getting quotes for an additional structure at Summerbrook pool as well as SW pool and adding more chaise loungers to SW.

Heating the pools/ covering them: Several years ago we did look into the possibility of heating the pools. At the time we ran into several major problems all costing more money then it was worth. 1 None of the pump rooms that are currently there are big enough to add heaters too thus meaning and addition to all 3 buildings. 2 If you heat the pool to a temp that is above the average nightly temp for the time then all of the heat will just escape into the air and thus the water will actually feel colder as the surrounding air will feel warmer 3) the previous problem can be eliminated by adding a blanket however they are very expensive ($50,000 each on last check) rip very easily, will cause our insurance to sky rocket (as they are considered a death trap if you get caught under one) plus they are extremely hard to put on and take off.

Lighting SW pool for additional hours use: The board last year got several quotes to add lighting to the SW pool. Because of the way the lights were originally done there is not enough power run to just add more lighting (plus county guidelines have changed making us need more like stadium lighting then what we have a Community Center). The cost just to add the right amount of power was astronomical not to mention the intrusion on the surrounding houses. I am still looking into a way to add later hours to SW pool but it may not be the entire summer but just a large portion.

Computer system: The new computer system went in last year and while it went fairly well in its 1st year there were still a lot of issues. We started the season with only 2 of the 3 computers working (the community center one failed the 1st morning we were open) . Then we ran into issues of slow scanning (it was taking 3 to 5 min to scan each person) in mid July we finally got that resolved with by adding an additional server. Then it was just a matter of getting the front desk person (ie young teen) to do remember what they were there for By the end of the season they seemed to be doing a good job of getting everyone scanned in and most people scanned out. Sometimes when they were busy they would just collect cards and then scan them in after the rush slowed down and other times they were able to do it immediately. The reason for collecting the cards and doing the scan ins and outs is if we ever get the system hooked up with the website then you will be able to see exactly how many people are at a pool at any given time. If we don't collect the cards then people won't scan out and there would be no reason to look to see if a certain pool was crowded as the count would not be accurate.
All total I liked the system. I really believe it was part of the reason that not 1 pool hit capacity this year (though some came close). I think our biggest obstacle going forward is human. I just need to make sure that the front desk guards are well trained with the system and the communities expectations and make sure that they follow through every day.

I think that I hit most of the big ideas everyone has thrown out. Thanks so much for all your input and I will see what I can do to make the pools and even better experience

Staci