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morgan
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Posted: Tue Jun 30th, 2009 06:35 am |
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Can I add something - and this is just my opinion - not based on any fact.
Was the aquatic center meant to be our community pool ? I think it was meant to be a place for the schools to have swim team and for swimming lessons to take place. Using it as a community pool may have been way down the list when it wasn't being used for the districts use as it does belong to the school district and not the town. Meaning -- not sure what the hype is on it being a failure of a community swimming pool (no bells and whistles) as going back to why its there - for our kids/the schools right ? Its no Hamilton pool that is for sure but not sure that was the intent when it was built. So with that said - maybe it meets all of the criteria of what its original intent was. Leaving no room for complaining on any of our parts (me included) I'll keep taking the kids to Hamilton if I want a fun day at the water park.
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morgan
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Posted: Tue Jun 30th, 2009 06:04 am |
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| I'm sorry you missed the open house or didn't hear about it. Not sure what to say as again, it was jammed packed with people. So - the word did get out. Besides the newspaper, and in a time where the district has to cut back due to budget cuts, what are other affordable ways to get the message out there ?
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GSBill
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Posted: Tue Jun 30th, 2009 04:07 am |
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morgan wrote:
There was an open house - I attended. The place was wall to wall people. Even to the point I thought tooo many people ! 
There was free food, drinks, music. They had sign ups for swimming lessons, swimming supplies (life jackets, goggles) and so forth being sold. Was a fun day hosted by QCUSD.
Proper promotion requires repetition. Same message over and over again..hammered so hard it hurts.
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morgan
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Posted: Mon Jun 29th, 2009 05:27 pm |
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There was an open house - I attended. The place was wall to wall people. Even to the point I thought tooo many people !
There was free food, drinks, music. They had sign ups for swimming lessons, swimming supplies (life jackets, goggles) and so forth being sold. Was a fun day hosted by QCUSD.
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geaston
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Posted: Mon Jun 29th, 2009 04:43 pm |
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but cf. at least the equestrian center is a good facility right? so it's a matter of marketing and promotion- that compared to a sub-par swimming facility which needs a heck of a lot more than marketing and promotion to help it compete with the alternatives.
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CrimeFighter
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Posted: Mon Jun 29th, 2009 07:08 am |
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| It isn't hard for the equestrian park to exceed expectations when the expectation is that it will hemorage money for the entire year. It still lost hundreds of thousands of dollars for the first half of the year. I did go to a couple of the roping events and they are a lot of fun, and they are free. We need to get the park to the point that it isn't losing money every year. The only way they are going to do that is if they can land some bigger events on a consistent basis.
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geaston
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Posted: Mon Jun 29th, 2009 05:51 am |
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i can see it now. someone's hair catches fire on a tiki torch, so they dive in, crack their skull on an ice block and a volunteer life guard lets him die and isn't liable since he's a volunteer! TOQC gets sued and files bk!
GSBill wrote: That will get everyone fired up
Fire! What a concept...Fire and Ice swim! Float big chunks of ice and have a nice camp fire around the pool.
Last edited on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 05:52 am by geaston
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geaston
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Posted: Mon Jun 29th, 2009 05:49 am |
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poor facility on paper. small and boring compared to the competition. and how much did it cost to build? i have a bad-ass 14k gallon pebbletec pool with water feature and salt water filtration and it cost us $40k- that included the decking, labor, fencing, permits, etc.
$2.8MM to build that place? really? say the pool cost ten times as much to build as mine. that's $400k, no wait, lets say it cost thirty times as much as mine, so $1.2MM for the pool and concrete and fencing, and a few diving boards and perhaps steps and a few grab bars to get out. that leaves $1.6MM for the rest of the facility- so what, parking? lighting?
oh yeah, they had to buy the land too. i'm sure that's part of the cost.. but really, $2.8MM for that place? very disappointing.
the equestrian center on the other hand seems to kick butt and good to hear that it's exceeded expectations so far.
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jrenae
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Posted: Mon Jun 29th, 2009 02:32 am |
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Never heard about it either.
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pipeman
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Posted: Sun Jun 28th, 2009 06:14 am |
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bobthebuilder wrote: Agreed. My better half and kids would have been interested in knowing about this.
You should advertise a bit. Maybe post on GSTAC that you want to change the name of the pool. That will get everyone fired up. 
As a wise man once said, "now that was funny, I don't care who you are" 
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QCVillager
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Posted: Sat Jun 27th, 2009 01:26 am |
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Monday the 29th of June...
Wild West water games
Kids can try their hand Monday at aiming better than a tarantula and retaining more water than a tortoise in a morning of desert-themed water games.
Activities start at 10 a.m. at the San Tan Mountain Regional Park Visitor Center, 6533 W. Phillips Road, which is located east of Thompson Road off the Hunt Highway in Pinal County. No registration is required, but more information is available at http://www.maricopa.gov/parks/santan/ or by calling (480) 655-5554.
Bring a towel, because you will get wet.
Last edited on Sat Jun 27th, 2009 01:27 am by
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GSBill
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Posted: Sat Jun 27th, 2009 12:56 am |
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That will get everyone fired up
Fire! What a concept...Fire and Ice swim! Float big chunks of ice and have a nice camp fire around the pool.
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bobthebuilder
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Posted: Sat Jun 27th, 2009 12:35 am |
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Agreed. My better half and kids would have been interested in knowing about this.
You should advertise a bit. Maybe post on GSTAC that you want to change the name of the pool. That will get everyone fired up.
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GSBill
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Posted: Sat Jun 27th, 2009 12:30 am |
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I have ideas QCUSD..First off you should have a few free swim days, like an open house. Maybe have music and food and show folks around. You should sell season passes to individuals and families. You should have events, like evening night swims for teens, toddler only swims, singles swim, etc.. Movie and a swim. Dance and swim. Bring local radio stations in. Birthday party packages. Dinner at the pool. Scuba night sponsored by local businesses like Sport Chalet.
IMAGINATION!
You should look to get volunteer life guards. Maybe do this thru the HS and local colleges or maybe the Red Cross. Could be a program for juniors and seniors that gets them school credit. You gave up to soon.
Advertise up the kazoo. Network. Takes some work but can be done.
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GSBill
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Posted: Fri Jun 26th, 2009 02:42 pm |
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| Never heard about this at all. Poor promotion.
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CrimeFighter
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Posted: Fri Jun 26th, 2009 01:48 pm |
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| That's what happens when you try to charge too much out of the gate for access to a pool. When I saw their initial rates I wrote them off, and never heard about the reduced rates. Had they offered a reasonable monthly pass then they probably could have pulled it off.
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QCVillager
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Posted: Fri Jun 26th, 2009 06:15 am |
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| CrimeFighter... need i state the obvious ?
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QCVillager
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Posted: Fri Jun 26th, 2009 06:14 am |
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http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/140973
Poor participation ends public swims in Q.C.
Hayley Ringle, Tribune
June 25, 2009 - 11:34AM
Swim instructor Larry Demik works with students Jacob Sien, 11, center, and Quin Deaton, 9, at the new Queen Creek Unified School District Pool in Queen Creek on May 14, 2009.
Thomas Boggan, The Associated Press
Just six weeks since the Queen Creek Unified School District Aquatic Facility celebrated its grand opening, the district is canceling public swim sessions because so few swimmers have participated.
Competition from nearby Chandler and Gilbert pools, which have slides, splash pads and lazy river rides, may be luring swimmers away from Queen Creek’s public swim times, said David Tait, owner of Gilbert-based EVO Swim School, which is running the aquatic activities for a fee at the pool through October.
Make a splash with our summer pool guide
Q.C. pool swimming in funding problems
“We just can’t really compete with that,” he said.
The Queen Creek facility, on Chandler Heights Road west of Ellsworth Road, features an eight-lane competition lap pool, two diving boards, a shallow teaching area that’s 3 to 5 feet deep and two shaded bleachers.
Only four people showed up for the first public swim on June 2, and expanded Friday and Saturday public swim hours only had about 25 to 30 people show up per day, Tait said.
The price for public swim was even dropped from $3 to $1.50, but the lower price still didn’t attract the swimmers.
“The costs for guards was $1,900 for two weeks, and we made less than $200 with our public swim,” Tait said. “Our goal is to have it break even, (but even dropping the price) didn’t help.”
The Queen Creek school board agreed Tuesday to stop the public swim sessions since it wasn’t cost effective.
Board president Jeff Black said district officials offered public swim because they thought people would want it. But he agreed if it’s not cost effective, it shouldn’t be offered.
Instead, the pool will host a free public swim day from noon to 4 p.m. July 4. If there’s a good turnout, another free public swim day may be offered before the start of the school year, Tait said.
While the public swim hasn’t taken off, swimming lessons and the swim team are off to a good start.
Close to 200 families have signed up their children for the popular swimming lessons, with about 250 to 300 young swimmers learning how to swim in the Queen Creek pool.
Seventy kids, mainly 7 to 14 years old, are learning the competitive aspect of swimming as part of the swim team, Tait said.
“It didn’t overshoot my projections,” he said. “We just hope people will continue to utilize the pool throughout October.”
Jamilyn Baker, whose 4-year-old son, Stratton, takes lessons, said she is impressed with how well her son is learning to swim. During his first few lessons, Stratton was terrified of being without his mother and his floaties. He would run away screaming and looking for his mom.
But after private lessons from Tait, the family went to the ocean last weekend, and Stratton was body surfing in the water, Baker said.
“Now he goes straight in and is swimming by himself,” she said. “I’ve been so impressed with how they’re teaching the kids how to swim.”
Baker found the pool by accident after looking up swim lessons in the area. She said she didn’t even know Queen Creek had a pool.
“It’s a great little place, and a lot of people out here still don’t know about it,” Baker said. “It’s definitely still a little hidden gem.”
Queen Creek High School’s swim team will start practicing at the pool in August. Tait also wants to host swim meets and regional swimming competitions at the pool and may soon offer diving lessons.
“We’re grateful people are accepting us,” Tait said. “We’ve had a great response.”
The Queen Creek district owns the $2.8 million aquatic complex, which was paid for mainly through a $2.5 million bond voters approved in 2002.
If You Go
What: Free public swim at Queen Creek Unified School District Aquatic Facility
When: Noon to 4 p.m. July 4
Where: Queen Creek district pool, 20255 E. Chandler Heights Road, west of Ellsworth Road
Information: (480) 539-2660 or evoswimschool.com/queencreek
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