Pool attendance dives in cold July
Stephanie Gomes
Late July heat usually has swimmers lining up to dive into the pool, but this year record-breaking cool weather is in the way.
Lakeview Aquatic Center saw low pool attendance Wednesday, a trend many area pools have seen all month. About a dozen people were in the water a half an hour after Lakeview opened.
"It's been a downer," said lifeguard Jenny Birdoes, 19, of Peoria. "It's like watching a bucket of water. It goes pretty slow."
Attendance at park district pools is down 55 percent so far in July, said Sue Wheeler, supervisor of aquatics for the Peoria Park District. And it is down 40 percent for the entire summer.
Lakeview has closed or partially closed 13 days this month alone, and other park district pools normally follow its lead.
"We've been hit pretty hard," said Wheeler, who's been aquatics manager for the last 17 years. "I haven't seen a summer like this."
Chuck Schaffer, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Lincoln, said temperatures have been running six degrees below normal for the month.
"We are running the coldest July in record, so far," he said.
Through July 21, the average temperature for the month was 70.2 degrees. The record for the coldest July was set in 1971, when Peoria saw an average temperature of 71.2 degrees.
While some may enjoy this break from the heat, not everyone is excited. Adriana Bryan, 41, of Bellevue visited Lakeview on Wednesday with daughter Selena, 7. Bryan said her family has attended the pool for the last 12 years.
"Even though we bought the season pass, we haven't been able to take advantage of it," she said. "And we only have three weeks left."
Other area pools are seeing the lack of swimmers, too. Brandon Ford, aquatics manager at Splashdown water park in East Peoria, said the facility has closed down three days in the past week.
"It's a huge financial burden," Ford said. "All around, it's hurting everyone."
On average, Splashdown sees 30,000 to 40,000 people in July, according to Craig Weigle, superintendent for recreation with the Fondulac Park District. So far, approximately 12,000 people have come to the water park, putting them about 10,000 people behind average.
Dan Englebright, pool manager at DragonLand Water Park in Pekin, said business is cut in half compared to last July.
"If it's not 80 degrees and the sun's not shining, they're not going to swim," Englebright said. "The less people, the less concessions you sell."
It's not just the big pools that are seeing attendance diminish. The Morton Pool also has seen a decline of about 40 percent for the entire summer, said Gary Watson, director of the Morton Park District. The pool has shut down 10 to 15 days.
The high on Wednesday reached 78 degrees, and temperatures are predicted to reach 85 degrees Friday before dropping into the upper 70s again for the weekend.
Typically, the month of July sees on average 10 days with highs in the 90s. The highest temperature so far in July was 87 degrees on July 15.
"We're still expecting below normal trends for the rest of the month," Schaffer said. "We're not seeing any big heat waves coming."
Stephanie Gomes can be reached at (309) 686-3194 or sgomes@pjstar.com.