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Will County — Labor Day officially marked the end of pool season for park districts throughout Will County. While most pools were closed for the last big heatwave of the season in late August, the unusually hot, dry summer was good for business at most park district’s aquatic facilities.
Lockport Township Park District had the longest season of the local pools, keeping both of its pools, Chaney Pool and Heritage Falls Water Park, open on weekends through the Labor Day holiday instead of closing up completely with the start of the school year.
Aquatics supervisor Jennifer Williams reported that while revenue from annual pass sales were slightly down this year following a $5 per person price increase and the unexpected full-season closure of a slide at Heritage Falls, the daily admissions sales more than made up for the shortfall.
“In 2022, we made $33,400 in daily admission, and this year we made $45,500, which is a huge increase,” Williams said. “We were definitely at capacity multiple times through the season.”
Plainfield Park District’s Ottawa Street Pool saw a similar increase in attendance with director of marketing Josh Hendricks reporting an increase in both annual pass sales and daily admissions.
“We were definitely at capacity multiple times through the season.”
— Jennifer Williams, aquatic supervisor for Lockport Township Park District
“We had over a thousand more people come through this summer,” Hendricks noted, with daily attendance increasing from 6,338 to 7,396. The Plainfield Park District also sold 577 annual passes this year, up from 404 in 2022, despite a slightly shorter season and a $5 per pass increase.
Finally, Channahon Park District, which had the shortest season of the year due to extensive renovations being made to the Tomahawk Aquatic Center this fall, also reported high attendance.
“We had a great summer,” said Angela Brown, facilities manager. “Attendance lined up well with our 2022 numbers, which were higher than they were in 2021 after COVID, and we had a slight increase in concession sales. We’re looking forward to next year after we finish our remodel.”
Brown said that the park district did not raise fees this year because of the slightly shortened season, which ended on Aug. 13, and final revenue numbers were not yet available.