Strong start for Queen Creek recreation, aquatic center

Just six months into its opening, the Queen Creek Recreation & Aquatic Center is racking up thousands of members and visitors while generating healthy revenue.

“It still surprises me that it was four-and-a-half years ago that it was initially approved to be built and it’s been a fast four-and-a-half years and at the same time felt like forever,” Adam Robinson, director of the parks and recreation department, told council members during its most recent meeting.

The Queen Creek Recreation & Aquatic Center is within Frontier Family Park at 22343 E. Ryan Road. Construction on the $67.9 million center began in May 2023 as part of an overall project that included the creation of the 85-acre Frontier Family Park and the 13-acre expansion of Carter Mansel Oasis Park.

Robinson presented council with a new report showing that between April and September, residents purchased 32,307 day passes to the facility, which features a large gym, event and activity rooms, indoor track, a pool, lazy river and water slides.

The recreation center portion of the facility opened in March, while the aquatic center started accepting visitors in May.

In its first six months, the center generated $1.1 million in revenue, this despite the controversial decision to only allow residents into the facility. That decision drew the ire of San Tan Valley residents who live very close to the center but can only go in with a resident.

“Back about six months, seven months before we opened, we made the decision to go resident-only and we weren’t sure what kind of impact that was going to have on revenues overall,” Robinson said. “I think that ultimately … it’s been strong, we’re feeling pretty good about it, and we feel as the population grows, as word gets out, I think that will also continue to grow.”

Annual memberships at 759 make up 33%, or $338,000, of the center’s revenue to date. Three-month memberships at 1,165 make up 20%, or $228,000. The more than 32,000 day passes generated 16%, or $183,000, over the first six months. Monthly passes came in at 1,044, making up 13%, or $150,000.

Day passes run from $5 to $7 per adult. For a single adult, it costs $35 for a one-month membership, $90 for three months and $300 annually.

For a household of four, the monthly membership is $75, three months is $200 and $700 annually. Detailed memberships fees can be found at https://tinyurl.com/54a69ark.

“The summer three-month swim period was very, very popular and then annual memberships were probably, frankly, a larger number than what we expected and kind of the core of the revenues when we talk about the revenue setting,” Robinson said.

Program fees and rentals equaled 19%, or $213,000.

“We feel like those are the numbers that have the most room for improvement as we move forward and more people find out about the facility and what we operate and what we offer,” Robinson said.

The center’s annual budget is $6.9 million.

Combining monthly, three-month and annual numbers, the center has logged 2,968 memberships in its first six months. With those memberships often covering families, the total number of Queen Creek residents who are members of the center stands at 8,869.

Not surprisingly, the aquatic center has been the biggest draw. When the recreation portion of the center held its grand opening on March 29, there were 1,668 weekly visitors. The grand opening of the aquatic center on May 24 drew 5,491 people that week.

“After summer’s over, we’re starting to see a normalized average visitation of about 3,500-3,900 visitors (per week), and we expect to see that throughout the year, but it’ll be interesting to see the next six months for the winter season how it pans out,” Robinson said.

The pool has capacity for 800 people, with peak attendance hitting 542 in one day. On average, the pool logged 380 visitors per day.

“When the decision was made to go resident-only, the biggest concern seemed to be the aquatic center more than anything else and the experience had there,” Robinson said. “I think all summer the facility was busy and exciting and fun but never overcrowded and never feeling uncomfortable or unsafe. And that was important for us, especially for our first summers. We count these numbers as a huge success.”

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