SNOHOMISH — The Snohomish Aquatic Center is inching closer to breaking even.
The Snohomish School District provided a $157,951 subsidy for the 2015-16 year. That is less than the $191,099 paid the year before. The district had budgeted $219,000 to make ends meet last year.
“Our goal is to continue to reduce the subsidy to work toward a break-even condition,” district spokeswoman Kristin Foley said.
Expenses at the aquatic center were nearly $1.89 million. Revenues were $1.73 million.
The aquatics center was part of a bond measure passed by voters in 2008. It’s a 52,000 square foot building encompassing a competition pool with a dive area, recreation pool, warm-water pool, spray-play area, surf-simulation machine and waterslide.
Greater attendance in a variety of programs narrowed the gap between revenues and expenses last year. For instance, the pools saw a 5 percent increase in open recreation swimmers and 13 percent more family recreation swimmers. Children’s swim lessons rose 62 percent.
Retail sales reached $65,000, including 2,318 pairs of swim goggles and 292 Seahawks towels. The center also raised money through fees for 571 birthday parties and other private events.
The Snohomish School Board last week reviewed a financial report of the aquatic center operations.
“The school board was very pleased with the activity happening at the center, the amount of community support and the large amount of use,” Foley said.
The number of young people using the pool is on the rise, including high school swim teams.
The trend trickles down to younger swimmers as well. Last year, 207 second-grade students across the district participated in free group swim lessons. The fees were paid by the local nonprofit Swim For Life whose mission is to make young people safer in the water.
The group points to national statistics emphasizing the importance of swim lessons. Those numbers show that drowning ranks fifth among the leading causes of accidental deaths in the United States, and second among children in Washington.
Participation in formal swimming lessons may reduce the risk of drowning by as much as 88 percent among young children ages 1 to 4, who are at highest risk of drowning.
To learn more, go to http://www.swimforlifesnohomish.org/
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446; stevick@heraldnet.com.
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