The Jones Aquatic center exceeded expectations in attendance this past summer.
According to the final report delivered during the Emporia Recreation Commission meeting Monday evening, the JAC saw a total of 21,029 visitors between June and August. This is just below the 18-year average of 21,378 and above the average for the past three years by 2,200 visitors according to Rec Director Tom McEvoy.
McEvoy says the attendance was way above original expectations especially considering new cleaning procedures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as issues in staffing which were highly publicized over the past year.
In other business Monday, an update was presented on the Rec Commission Foundation fund through the Emporia Community Foundation. According to McEvoy the fund is not officially up and running at the moment, however, he says it is likely the ECF Board of Directors will vote on the fund’s establishment by next week.
McEvoy says this is an exciting development as the ERC continues to receive a large number of donations and memorial contributions to assist programming and operations. Once the fund is fully established McEvoy tells KVOE News the ERC will begin working on marketing strategies to further educate both the Emporia and surrounding communities on the fund and its purpose.
Separately, the ERC received a clean audit report from Varney and Associates.
The ERC will reconvene for its monthly meeting in December inside the Lee Beran Recreation Center.
