Ladies and gentlemen, start your summer. Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial beginning of the season and the opening of public pools across the East Valley.
More than 20 parks-and-rec-managed facilities make an affordable place to while away hot days, and many go beyond basic lap pools to include amenities that once could be found only at pricey water parks.
Take, for example, West Chandler Aquatic Center’s 112-foot figure-eight water slide, 3-foot waves at Kiwanis Wave Pool in Tempe, a Lazy River at Mesquite Groves Aquatic Center in Chandler and Mesa’s FlowRider. The main attraction at Rhodes Aquatic Center, it combines the feel of snowboarding, skateboarding and wakeboarding in a wet ride that requires little skill to have a good time.
Mesa’s new Skyline Aquatics Center opens for public swimming for the first time this season. The facility has a 28-lane Olympic-size competition pool, a looping water slide and a “tumble bucket” water feature.
Hours and dates of operation vary. Many pools offer savings via punch cards or season passes and swim lessons for adults and children. Contact each facility directly for the most up-to-date information.
APACHE JUNCTION
Superstition Shadows Aquatics Center, 1091 W. Southern Ave.
• A.J.’s pool is open May 28 through Aug. 7. Daily fees are $1-$2 per person; season passes are available for $45-$95. For details, call (480) 474-5210 or visit www.ajcity.net
CHANDLER
Arrowhead Pool, 1475 W. Erie St.
Desert Oasis Aquatic Center, 1400 W. Summit Place
Folley Pool, 600 E. Fairview
Hamilton Aquatic Center, 3838 S. Arizona Ave.
Mesquite Groves Aquatic Center, 5901 S. Hillcrest Drive
West Chandler Aquatic Center, 250 S. Kyrene Road
• Swim season at each Chandler pool varies, but all are open beginning May 28. Admission is $1-$2.25 per person. Each pool offers free weekly swim sessions and weekly $1 Family Nights. Chandler residents may buy punch passes and family season passes. For information, call (480) 782-2750 or visit www.chandleraz.gov/aquatics
GILBERT
Greenfield Municipal Pool, 35 S. Greenfield Road
Mesquite Aquatic Center, 100 W. Mesquite St.
Perry Pool, 1775 E. Queen Creek Road
Williams Field Pool, 1900 S. Higley Road
• Gilbert pools are open May 28 through Aug. 6. All pools are closed on Sundays. Admission fees are $1-$3 per person; 30-visit punch cards are available for $25. A splash pad open daily at Water Tower Park is free. For information, call (480) 503-6200 or visit www.gilbertaz.gov/parks/aquatics
MESA
Brimhall Aquatics Complex, 4949 E. Southern Ave.
Carson/Westwood Aquatic Complex, 525 N. Westwood
Fremont Aquatic Complex, 1101 N. Power Road
Kino Aquatic Center, 848 N. Horne
Rhodes Aquatic Complex (home of the FlowRider), 1860 S. Longmore St.
Shepherd Aquatic Complex, 1407 N. Alta Mesa Drive
Skyline Aquatics Center, 845 S. Crismon Road
Stapley Aquatic Complex, 3250 E. Hermosa Vista Drive
Taylor Pool, 705 S. 32nd St.
• Pools open May 28. Admission is $1-$3.50 per person. Family season passes, good for eight people and regularly $130-$210, are 50 percent off if purchased May 28-30; season passes are good through Sept. 5. For information, call (480) 644-2352 or visit www.mesaaz.gov/parksrec/aquatics
TEMPE
Escalante Pool, 2150 E. Orange St.
Kiwanis Wave Pool, 6111 S. All-America Way
• Pools open May 28; hours vary. Admission fees are 75 cents to $1.25 per person at Escalante and $1.25-$6 per person at Kiwanis. Four “splash parks” at parks throughout the city are always free. For details, call (480) 350-5204, (480) 350-5201 or visit www.tempe.gov/pools
• Contact writer: (480) 898-6818 or azajac@evtrib.com
Leon Ceniceros posted at 1:53 pm on Thu, May 26, 2011.
RHODES JR HIGH SCHOOL HAS ONE OF THESE ...$1 MILLION DOLLAR....FLOW RIDERS TOO.............THANKS TO MAYOR SCOTT SMITH'S SWING VOTE DURING THE RECESSION/DEPRESSION.
$1,000,000.00...........SO THAT ...1 (ONE) TEENIE-BOPPER CAN ...."PRETEND"..TO SURF...........ONE MILLION ....FOLKS..............$1,000.000.00........OF YOUR HARD-EARNED ...TAX-DOLLARS...............[sad]
technicalogic posted at 12:40 pm on Sat, May 28, 2011.
Do the math Leon. At $10 a hour for adults and $5 a hour for kids with a limit of 25 a hour to maintain the fun level for all paying participants, this thing probably pays for itself in 2 years time. If you take the average of the two admittance fee's, and figure that 100 people a day use it on average for the four months the pool is open, then the flow rider makes $630,000 a year, ball park of course. I'll tell you right now, being a father of two young children, when planing the purchase of a home, the recreational possibilities for my family are high on the list of importance, making Dobson Ranch look a lot more inviting than it would if it had no parks, or amenities.
If you are tired of your city "wasting" your tax dollars to increase the livability of your community, go live in the middle of the desert where you'll wait year if not decades to have your roads improved. Your children can go to a school that was built in the mid 1900's, with computers from the 80's, and text books that don't even make mention of the Cold War.
If you are a fan of critical thinking then join in with me and say "bravo" to the City of Mesa, for installing amenities that will be used by publications, local and nationally, as reasons why Mesa is a great city to live in.