As the temperature continues to rise, many in the East Lansing community will enjoy the great outdoors.
And what better way to celebrate the summer months than taking a dip in a pool.
And East Lansing residents will once again have the East Lansing Family Aquatic Center, 6400 Abbott Road, to take full advantage of this summer.
The center will open for its second season of leisurely summer fun at 11 a.m. Friday.
The pool was set to open Memorial Day weekend, but due to cold weather the date was postponed.
“The first year was excellent,” said Kathy Staton, aquatic facilities coordinator.
“We had really nice weather and enjoyed over 81,000 visitors.”
Tim McCaffrey, director of Parks and Recreation Facilities for East Lansing, said the park made $477,917, and cost $412,277 to run.
Staton said on an average hot summer day, the pool accommodates between 1,100 and 1,200 people.
The maximum capacity is 1,400.
The roughly 50,000 square-foot facility houses one pool, which is nearly 15,000 square-feet, and various amenities.
The pool reaches a depth of 12 feet with a one-meter diving board, and also provides a zero depth entry.
Among the amenities, East Lansing resident Fred Bauries, 66, said he enjoys taking advantage of the slides with his grandchildren.
He said the center makes him feel like a kid.
“I go down the slide with my grandson,” Bauries said. “It is the neatest thing he has ever seen.”
The pool boasts three water slides; a 200-foot long tube slide, 121-foot long body slide and a children’s slide shaped like a frog.
A raindrop mushroom that spouts water, a sandbox full of toys and free innertubes also are available.
The center provides concession stands for those who work up an appetite.
With so many activities and people running around, center officials consider safety their main priority.
As a result, the center employs 42 lifeguards, who rotate working between the aquatic center and Hannah Community Center, 819 Abbott Road.
Pool manager Katie Bonner said safety is not taken lightly at the aquatic center.
“I am not worried about injuries, I am prepared,” she said.
“We had over a hundred saves last summer, we were always prepared.”
The lifeguards are trained through the National Pool and Waterpark Lifeguarding Training Program administered by Ellis & Associates, a risk management company.
Staton said after the lifeguards finish their thorough 20-hour training course, they are required to perform four hours of inservice a month to maintain their skills.
Ellis & Associates makes random audits where it monitors and tests the safety techniques of the lifeguards.
During the stops, Ellis & Associates look for three main things - accountability, professionalism and ability of lifeguards to recognize emergencies.
Staton said last year the lifeguard staff received the 2001 Silver National Aquatic Safety Award for lifeguarding, placing the staff in the top 10 percent of client lifeguards for Ellis and Associates.
Along with his wife, Bauries, said he looks forward to making new memories with his grandchildren this summer at the aquatic center.
“We love it, they love it,” Bauries said. “There’s nothing quite like it.”
