Queen Creek rec & aquatic center has strong first year

By Janet Perez
Mail | X: @AzNewsmedia

With one year under its belt, the Queen Creek Recreation & Aquatic Center is proving to be quite popular with residents logging more than 114,000 total visits and generating $1.5 million in revenue.

"Surpassing 114,000 visitors in our opening year shows just how eager Queen Creek was for a dedicated space to connect and stay active," Parks and Recreation Director Adam Robinson stated in an email. "Whether it was full swim lessons or booming senior fitness classes, the center's first year has been an absolute home run for our community."

At its Tuesday meeting, the Parks & Recreation Advisory Committee heard a report on the first year of operations for the center running from March 29, 2025, to March 31, 2026.

Saturdays are proving to be the busiest days for the center located at 22343 E. Ryan Road. In its first year, 25,000 total visits were recorded on Saturdays. The busiest hours for the center are 5-7 p.m., with 28,000 total visitors throughout the year.

The busiest day of the first year was June 15, 2025, with 1,100 visitors, and June 6, 2025, averaged the longest visit duration at 111 minutes.

As the town’s only public pool facility, it’s not surprising that the highest number of monthly passes sold were at the height of summer in 2025, with 946 in June, 1,083 in July and 1,039 in August.

Three-month passes also peaked in summer 2025 with 895 sold in June, 978 in July and 994 in August.

Starting in August, annual memberships began ticking up steadily with 714 sold in August 2025 and reaching 873 in March.

For daily passes, June 2025 proved to be the peak month at 11,458. The highest number of visits took place in July 2025 at 22,425, with the average number of monthly visits at 11,083.

Among the programs offered, 1,739 residents took swimming lessons in the first year, with the vast majority, 1,427, being youth. The swimming lessons generated $68,563 in total revenue.

Beyond swimming lessons, the recreation and aquatic center tallied a total of 2,489 registered program participants in its first year, generating $78,020 in revenue.

Sports programs for adults and youth also attracted participants. In youth sports there were a total of 938 participants generating $86,599, while adult sports brought in 176 people for a total of $9,700 in revenue.

For all of the center’s programming, 7,347 people registered, equaling $715,703 in total revenue.

In a survey emailed to 1,323 current members in March 2026, more than 34% responded with 433 rating their experience at the center as “excellent.”

Janet Perez can be reached at jperez@iniusa.org. Please send your comments about this article to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.

Janet Perez
News Editor | Queen Creek & San Tan Valley

jperez@iniusa.org

Meet Janet
Janet Perez joined Independent Newsmedia as editor of the Queen Creek Independent and Florence Independent in 2020. She started her career in 1989 with the Gannett-owned El Paso Times. In 1992, she moved to Tempe and has worked in newspapers, magazines, radio and television. She left Arizona for three years to work at New Mexico State University and Baylor University before returning to work at Arizona State  University. Missing the business, she went back to journalism in 2017.

Community: A long-time pet owner, she supports animal welfare causes.

Education: University of Texas at El Paso with a BA in journalism and a minor in political science. 

Random Fact: She had a head full of random facts.  

Hobbies: Reading, watching documentaries, cooking and playing with her dogs.