BLOOMINGTON, Ill (WMBD) — As summer comes to an unofficial close, O’Neil Aquatics Center had its last day of operation on Labor Day.
Bloomington parks and recreation program manager for aquatics and youth sports, Cody Demas, said that to up the season, he wanted to do something special for the community.
“Our three-month season goes pretty fast. But with the weather this weekend being down a little bit, we wanted to give the community a special promotion where we extended our $5 admission,” Demas said. “Rates, not just Friday night like we usually do at the end of the season, but also through Saturday, Sunday and today, Monday as well.”
Demas said that implementing this promotion has been a success throughout most of the year.
“When we’re open the first Friday of the season, we had about 210 people that came out and took advantage of it,” he said. “When back to school, got going. You know, since then, we’re only open about three hours in the evening. So we get about 100, 150. I think that’s a great turnout on a Friday evening.”
Demas also said that he saw successes in other areas throughout the year as well.
“We saw a big jump in our private swim lessons this summer. That’s going to be something we looked at building upon going into next summer.”
That number went from 275 participants last year to 359 this year, a roughly 23% increase in participation.
With the O’Neil Aquatics Center and other outdoor pools closing for the season in Central Illinois, Demas said the partnership with Bloomington high school, to offer swim lessons, will continue as he looks forward to next summer.
“It was a great summer all around. We had some growth with our staff and our programs, and we look forward to continuing that in 2026,” He said.
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