How Long Should Your Community Center Pool Stay Open?
If you have a swimming pool at your community center, the toughest decision of the year likely comes every fall when you have to close the pool for the winter. If you have an indoor pool or your community center is in a warm weather climate, you might not deal with this problem. But for the majority of facility managers, this is always an issue come fall.
Some choose to set a hard deadline every year, regardless of what the weather might look like. However, for others who fear that summer might run longer than their hard deadline, making the final call to close up can be difficult. Today, Sports Facilities Advisory will look at the question: how long should you keep your pool open?
Where Is Your Community Center?
As noted, some community pools don’t have to worry about closing down for the winter at all. For pools in southern states with warmer clients, it might be possible to keep your pool open year-round. However, for most facility managers, they will have to close down at some point. And depending on where you are located, that time can vary.
In northern states, that might be closer to the beginning of August, while summer might linger a little bit longer in the Midwest. Ultimately, you can’t control the climate of the area you live in so you will have to make decisions with your regional climate in mind.
Who Uses The Pool?
Another factor to consider is the demographics of your community center. If you are serving an older community or a community without a lot of young families, you won’t see a lot of pushback if you close down your pool while it’s still warm.
However, if you are in a community with a lot of young families or a larger youth population, there might be more pressure on you to keep your doors open into September. For those facilities, it might be best to have a more fluid deadline based on demand or attendance.
Can Your Pool Handle The Weather?
While this isn’t often what comes to the minds of facility managers, not all community center pools are built to handle colder weather. It isn’t uncommon for people to leave their pools open year-round, but if your pool is older or if it is not built for cold weather, that can do more harm than good. As it begins to cool down, know what your equipment can handle and if you need to consider closing sooner rather than later.
Contact Sports Facilities Advisory For More Pool Tips
Nobody likes when the local pool has to close and if you are a facility manager for a community center, pulling the plug on the summer can be difficult. For more tips on pool management, give us a call at (727) 474-3845 or contact us online today.