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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
JUNE GUIDE
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 9, 2004
Lawrence children welcome pool days
Courtney Kuhlen/Kansan
Madeline Griem, 5, catches Laura Quackenbush, 7, during a game at the Lawrence Aquatic Center Monday morning. The two girls were playing with their Level 2 swim lesson group. Cooler temperatures recently have caused lower attendance at the pool.
By Miranda Lenning
mlenning@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Children of all ages are welcoming summer vacation with a splash. Although the first day of summer is not until June 21, the opening of the downtown aquatic center, 747 Kentucky St., made it seem like summer was already here. The pool opened May 29 and despite being Memorial Day weekend, almost 300 people a day turned up.
Pool manager Marc Rickett said not as many people had shown up this year as in previous years. He said usually the pool got about 500 people a day, but attendance so far has maxed out at about 300. He attributed the attendance to cooler days this season, but expected attendance to pick up in a few weeks as the weather heated up.
Regardless, the pool is still an afternoon hot spot for kids. Almost every day children of all ages can be seen splashing around in the pool, taking trips down the slide, or performing tricks off the diving board. Even the smallest kids enjoy splashing in the kiddie pool.
Many daycare services make regular trips to the pool. The Boys and Girls Club in Lawrence brings between 40 and 100 kids per day to the pool. Chaperoned by as many as ten group leaders, kids between the ages of 5 and 16 take turns making a
weekly trip to the pool. Roger Ross, supervisor for both Lawrence Boys and Girls Club locations, said this is the fifth year the club has been taking kids to the pool.
"The kids' favorite activity of all the ones we do is to go to the pool," said Hannah Davoren, a group leader who takes second- and third-graders to the
pool on Wednesdays. "It is basically our staple activity for the summer."
Daily admission to the pool costs $1.25 for children and $3.75 for adults. Members can purchase a monthly pass for $16.00, or an annual pass for $135.00. The passes also include access to the indoor aquatic facility located across from Free
POOL HOURS
- The pool is open to everyone from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m.daily, but it is open from 10 a.m.to 12:45 p.m.
- Monday through Friday, for adults to swim laps.
State High School near 6th and Wakarusa.
The most popular admissions option, however, is the discount ticket booklet. This booklet contains 30 tickets and can be used by different people, as opposed to the monthly and annual passes that can be used by only one person. Adults need three tickets for admittance. Teenagers need two, and children need one. Daycare services like the Boys and Girls Club choose this option.
Rickett said one of the main reasons parents and daycare services choose the pool is because it's a safe place.
"We've had absolutely no violence here," Rickett said. "About the only thing we have to get after them for is running."
The lifeguards, however, said it was not always that easy.
"Sometimes we feel like babysitters here because of the number of kids that come here, said lifeguard Skyler Myers. "But we are well trained and know how to prevent them from getting hurt."
- Edited by Jay Senter