Membership up 42 percent
By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Membership at Princeton’s Community Park Pool rose by 42 percent this year as people came in large numbers to use the new complex despite having to pay more to swim.
Opening weekend in late May set the tone for a busy summer, with 3,359 people attending on Memorial Day.
”I have records that go back to the mid-1970s, and we have never had that many people in one day,” said Ben Stentz, executive director of the Princeton Recreation Department, on Tuesday.
The complex, redone during the past winter, has seen large numbers on a routine basis. As of this week, daily attendance topped 1,500 people on 12 different days.
”Prior to 2012, if we had one or two of these days, it was a lot,” Mr. Stentz said.
The pool has roughly 5,100 members, up from around 3,500 the year before, he said. The total does not include walkup customers who pay a daily admission rate, another category of pool user that has increased.
He said the “huge jump” in membership is more than he had expected.
”The community has responded in big numbers,” he said. “To go over 5,000 is unprecedented.”
The membership bump occurred even though the pool users had to pay more to swim, in some cases by as much as $37. Rates went up for resident and nonresident members, with the increases tied to defraying the construction project costs.
Mr. Stentz said he thought that membership increased because people were curious to see the new complex. The final price tag has not been set but will be less than the budgeted amount of around $6.6 million.
The complex has elements including a “family bay,” which is a transitional pool for children who have outgrown the kiddie pool, a 14-foot water slide and updated changing rooms that made it appealing, he said. The hot summer was another plus factor.
Pool users, young and old, raved about the improvements on Wednesday.
”It’s just wonderful,” said Dagmar Haggerty, who has been swimming here since 1977.
Jeanne Katen has been using the pool since the first facility opened in 1967. She said the place “looks fabulous.”
While revenues rose, so did expenses such as chlorine and manpower. Mr. Stentz said the pool had 73 lifeguards on staff this year, up from 45 in 2011.

