Heeding summer’s call, some weekend warriors are skipping
beaches and swimming pools back home and heading instead to the
Morgan Hill Aquatic Cente
For swimmers, it’s the best of times
Tony Burchyns Staff Writer
Heeding summer’s call, some weekend warriors are skipping beaches and swimming pools back home and heading instead to the Morgan Hill Aquatic Center.
“You can’t do the beach everyday,” said Aptos resident Matt Nowark, reclining under a canopy Sunday afternoon at the Condit Road water park, watching his two young children splash in the spray ground. “And this is well worth the drive.”
Nowark is not alone in making the trip. Aquatics Center managers say more out-of-towners are buying daily passes and family packages than ever before.
They credit word-of-mouth advertising and regional marketing efforts – such as inviting 2,000 field-trip students, many many from San Jose, to the center this spring – for the boost in foreign popularity.”Word is spreading outside of Morgan Hill,” said Aquatics Center manager Angela Papp, adding she wants to double the number of field trips next year. “And word-of-mouth, good weather and good customer service are the things that bring people back.”
The four-year-old Aquatic Center opened its seven-day-a-week summer season June 9.
Managers say they’re off to their busiest “busy season” yet, selling more than 175 family passes since February. The goal is to sell as many as 350 passes.
“The kids love it, it’s inexpensive and it’s fun,” said Shelly Perez of Watsonville, sitting pool-side with her 2-year-old daughter, her husband and friends. “We got a season pass two years ago, and we’ll probably do the same thing again this year.”
Staff members say the reason for the regional appeal is young families see the Aquatics Center as a middle ground between San Jose’s Raging Waters and community pools elsewhere.
“Basically, you don’t have to worry about your kids getting lost on the other side of a 23-acre park,” Papp said. “We market this more as a family facility.”
With temperatures in the 90s last week, staff members welcomed big crowds.
“It’s great for families, especially on hot days,” said lifeguard Laura Melroy. “In Morgan Hill, there’s not much else to do.”
A new entertainment calendar this year includes Saturday afternoon record-spinning by DJ Lopez, cannon-ball contests and an ongoing series of rubber ducky races.
“We provide the rubber duckies, and the kids can decorate them however they want,” said supervisor Kelly Cook, who works at the front desk. “They race them down the water slide and winners get free day passes.”
But even with the upsurge of out-of-town visitors, the Aquatics Center faces competition from the Centennial Recreation Center’s indoor pool, which opened last October.
“It’s not overcrowded, it’s cheaper and you don’t have to worry about them getting sunburned,” said Morgan Hill resident Margaret Bramhall, who chose to bring her children to the Edmundson Avenue fitness facility on Sunday. “It’s probably the nicest indoor pool I’ve seen.”
Steve Rymer, director of the Morgan Hill Recreation and Community Services Department, said there are enough customers to fill both pools – though there seemed to be plenty of room at both facilities Sunday.
“The two pools are meant to compliment each other,” Rymer explained. “The advantage of the Centennial Recreation Center is it provides a shady facility, but it’s also a much smaller pool.”
The facilities also offer different hours. The indoor pool at the fitness center is open mornings and evenings during the week, while the Aquatics Center is open during the middle of the day. Both pools offer roughly the same hours Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
Frugal spenders may note Morgan Hill youth-day passes cost $5 at the Centennial Recreation Center and $6 at the Aquatics Center.
But then again, there’s no snack bar at the indoor pool, with burgers, cherry smoothies, and healthy choices like apples and peanut butter and fresh fruit.
Decisions, decisions
