Attendance at the Jasper Aquatic Centre was up by 35 per cent in July compared to the same period last year, according to Yvonne McNabb, the municipality鈥檚 culture and recreation director.
She attributed the increase to the number of visitors passing through Jasper this summer and the poor weather in July.
鈥淓verybody has been saying that their business is up by 20 or 30 per cent and I think we鈥檙e right along that line, but it also has to do with the weather,鈥� said McNabb.
With a capacity of 250 people, she said the pool has had to turn people away several times this summer.
鈥淪ometimes it鈥檚 because of the capacity of the pool itself, but it could also could be the capacity for the number of lifeguards that we have on deck,鈥� said McNabb, explaining there must be a lifeguard for every 49 people in the pool.
According to staff at the pool, there are always two lifeguards on deck at a time and depending on the weather and the number of people using the pool staff will call in additional lifeguards as needed.
In addition to the jump in attendance at the pool, there were also 30 private swimming lessons in June and July, a 300 per cent increase over the same period last year.
McNabb said the jump in lessons is likely due to people coming from Valemount and the McBride area who don鈥檛 have access to a public swimming pool.
She also credited the increase in lessons to the quality of swim instructors.
鈥淚f you put your child into private lessons you鈥檇 be so surprised at how quickly they develop their skills,鈥� said McNabb.
And it wasn鈥檛 just the town鈥檚 aquatic facilities that saw an increase in the amount of users this summer.
Attendance at the Fitness Centre was also up 12 per cent.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a wonderful thing to see,鈥� said McNabb, about the general increase in attendance.
鈥淲e鈥檙e an extremely lucky town for the size of us to have such wonderful facilities.鈥�
Paul Clarke
[email protected]
