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WATERVILLE: Alfond pool attendance breaks record

City programs’ collaboration producing results

By Amy Calder acalder@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

WATERVILLE -- Collaboration between the city's Parks and Recreation Department and Alfond Youth Center programs apparently is paying off in a big way.

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REPRIEVE: Aleshia Workman rises to the surface of the Alfond Municipal Pool crowded with swimmers on a hot July day this summer in Waterville. More people used the pool this summer than ever before.

Staff file photo by David Leaming

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More people used the Alfond Municipal Pool this summer than ever before, according to Parks and Recreation Director Matt Skehan and Ken Walsh, executive director of the Alfond Center.

"It was a record year at the pool," Skehan said. "Our attendance this year was 28,667. We averaged about 650 people, every single day at the pool. That's a lot of people. We sold over 1,000 pool passes."

Ten summers ago, about 20,000 people used the pool, he said.

The city and Alfond Center have been collaborating on programs and activities more and more as a way to share resources and be more cost-efficient in a tough economy.

Last year, the city and Alfond swim programs teamed up. The city contracts with the Alfond Center swim programs and the center manages the municipal pool in the summer. The collaboration works well, Walsh and Skehan said Wednesday.

Aquatics Director Lore Wing, a swim teacher and 26-year employee of the Boys & Girls Club, did a phenomenal job, they said.

"She's the longest employee of the Boys & Girls Club," Walsh said.

This summer, Walsh and Skehan teamed up to offer the Parks and Recreation and Boys & Girls Club Summer Enrichment Program for children ages 6-12. Some of the children formerly attended the now-discontinued Camp WOW at the Alfond Center; some previously attended a half-day city recreation program.

"It worked out great," Skehan said.

Walsh said they vowed not to turn away any child who could not pay for the program.

"We provided in real dollars $31,620 worth of scholarships to the kids," he said. "It was just tremendous."

The number of children attending the after-school program at the Alfond Center is exploding, according to Walsh.

"Last year at this time, we had 60 kids, average. We are at 112, so we close to doubled in numbers. I think it is the relationship building that's going on with the Parks and Recreation Department, with the North End (Alfond center satellite office), and in relationships that have been developed with parents and kids."

Of the 112 children attending the center's after-school program, 108 qualify for free and reduced lunch, according to Walsh. The children are ages 8-12.

A dozen of those children will take part Oct. 8 in Civic Day, where they visit city officials in their offices and learn what they do.

The Alfond Center also is working with Parks and Recreation Department on providing activities for children and adults at the Quarry Road Recreation Area.

Skehan said the Quarry Road site is a gem that not enough people know about. Cross country skiing, kayaking and hiking are among activities offered there.

"We've cleaned things up so much -- stumping and grading improvements to roads," Skehan said.

Wellness is an important focus for both Parks and Recreation and the Alfond Center, and the Quarry Road plays a large part in that, Walsh said.

"We're actually sending our staff onto the trails for their wellness programs," he said.

Walsh and Skehan are planning a first-time Battle of the Bands New Year's Eve event for junior high school youths where they will spend the night at the Alfond Center. They hope to make it an annual event for junior high kids, as they sometimes are in the middle -- too young to drive and attend parties, but too old to want to attend camp. The event would provide an opportunity for parents as well that evening, according to Walsh and Skehan.

"It will be great for parents who want go out and do something else," Skehan said.

Walsh said the Alfond Center's Heritage Tour director, Vaughn Clark, will coordinate organization of the event.

He also reported that the North End satellite office will remain open, thanks to a federal grant that came at the eleventh hour.

"We were about to shut the doors Friday, and Thursday about three o'clock, after working three months, I got word I was granted $30,000," Walsh said.

Steve Aucoin is director of the North End site.

Amy Calder -- 861-9247

acalder@centralmaine.com