The summer season will kick off with a splashing good time as public swimming pools open across Northwest Arkansas this Memorial Day weekend.
Springdale, Fayetteville, Bentonville, Rogers and Siloam Springs will welcome swimmers and sunbathers as each city's pool or aquatic center opens Saturday, offering water slides, movies and other water park favorites.
On the web
For more information about pools in Bentonville, Fayetteville, Rogers, Siloam Springs and Springdale, go to the following websites:
Source: Staff report
"There's actually a lot of cool things at the aquatic center," said Melissa Reeves, Springdale public relations director.
The Springdale Aquatic Center, 1100 Watson Ave., includes a 50-meter lap pool with two straight tube slides, a 13-foot dive well with 3-meter and 10-meter spring boards and a 4-feet deep zero depth entry pool with mini slides. Two 2-story tall swirly water slides and a splash pad for kids under 4 feet tall are also featured, Reeves said.
Springdale park officials look forward to showing at least one "dive-in movie" this summer, said Jake Ippolito, director of the Springdale Parks and Recreation Center.
Films shown at the center likely will be aquatic-themed such as Jaws or Finding Nemo, Ippolito said.
"We want to do something the whole family will enjoy," he said. "We'll try to see how it goes and if we can squeeze in two (movies) that would be great."
The center, built in 2001, is next to Murphy Park and gets 35,000 visitors every year. LeAnn Shaw, a Springdale resident, was at the park having lunch with her two young grandsons, Jaden and Andrew, on Thursday. Shaw said she frequently brings her grandsons to the aquatic center and looks forward to bringing them back plenty more this summer.
"And the library's (nearby)," Shaw said. "Before the kids get into playing (at the pool), they can go to the library and read a little bit. I call it one-stop shopping."
Rogers opened its 3-acre aquatic center at 1707 S. 26th St. in 2013. The complex includes water slides, a lazy river and children's playground.
Andrea Brinton, Rogers Parks and Recreation interim director, said the park averages about 100,000 visitors each summer.
Visitor numbers vary from year to year depending on weather, Brinton said. A rainy year, such as last year, can lower the numbers to 80,000, she said.
"We missed three weeks out of the 80-day season," Brinton said. "That is a big challenge."
City officials are researching ways to expand the park, Brinton said. Adding a wave pool has been an ongoing discussion, she said.
The Melvin Ford Aquatic Center in Bentonville, 2000 N.E. Memorial Park Square, features a 13-foot-deep diving well and 12-foot-tall water slide and will highlight the middle of each week with Wibit Wednesdays, according to a city news release.
The release describes a Wibit as a floating obstacle course that includes climbing, sliding and jumping from one end of the pool to the other. Wibit Wednesday will be held every Wednesday from 5:30 to 7 p.m. starting June 8.
The Family Aquatic Center in Siloam Springs, 1800 N. Mount Olive St., features two 150-foot-long swirly slides. The center also features six lanes for lap swimming and a diving board with 12-foot-deep water beneath it, said Troy Kirkendall, parks manager for the Siloam Springs Parks and Recreation Department.
Fayetteville's Wilson Park pool might not boast as many frills as nearby aquatic centers, but it offers a lush, natural ambiance, said Byron Humphry, parks maintenance superintendent for the Fayetteville Parks Department.
"It's just a fun place to swim," he said. "There's a lot of water parks around, but this is a traditional swimming pool at a beautiful location, so it's a great place to swim with family and friends."
The pool, at 675 N. Park Ave., has been around since the 1940s and has undergone several renovations. The pool is 300 feet long and 50 feet wide. A spring-fed pond named Trent Pond originally was located where the pool is now.
Wilson Park will feature free admission dive-in movie showings at the pool on four different dates this summer, with the first movie Tangled on June 3. The films, all family oriented, will be shown on a 20-foot screen, Humphry said.
NW News on 05/27/2016