At some point each summer, one person suddenly drowns at the Eagle Harbor water park in Del City.

The Del City Fire Department and emergency dispatchers are warned in advance of the drowning, but for lifeguards it is a pop quiz from Parks and Recreation Supervisor Steve Berner. The staged drowning comes with no notice to lifeguards, who are going about their business when they suddenly have a life or death situation on their hands.

Berner uses the drill to test his lifeguards under pressure to prepare them for the unfortunate event of an actual drowning situation. During the course of the summer, Berner plans several drills, training sessions with emergency responders and drowning simulations to keep his staff on their toes.

That is just one of the hundreds of steps Berner and his staff take each summer as swimming weather approaches. They must fill Eagle Harbor with water, do extensive chemical tests, check every slide and amenity, hire lifeguards and make sure those lifeguards are trained before opening for the public. Last year from May to August, the pool had 15,797 visitors.  

Both Del City and Midwest City parks officials are opening their respective municipal swimming pools this week after months of planning. In recent years, both pools have undergone renovations that have taken those facilities from basic swimming pools to water parks with slides, decorative spray devices and amenities not often seen at standard municipal pools.

Preparation work
But plenty of hard work and constant maintenance continue before, during and after each summer season. In mid-May, Midwest City Community Services Director Vaughn Sullivan sat in his office behind a mounting stack of paperwork related to the pool's scheduled opening on May 29. Last year he said about 50,000 people visited the pool from May through August.

It is tireless work for the parks and aquatics departments in both cities, but both Vaughn and Berner said looking at pristine pools and patrons lining up at the gates on opening day makes their efforts worthwhile.

Berner does not know exactly when Del City built its municipal pool, but he estimates it was in the early 1960s. What he does recall is the pool's rebirth in 2005 as a water park. He took over operations of Eagle Harbor in 2007 after its $1.5 million renovation.

Midwest City's municipal pool was built sometime in the mid-1970s. It received a near-complete remodel in 1997, along with a name change to the Reno Swim & Slide. That came at a cost of just less than $1 million, Sullivan said.

Staying afloat
Both municipal water parks have yearly operating budgets, but Berner and Sullivan said those appropriations don't even come close to covering the overall costs. Instead, operating budgets largely pay for pool chemicals and cover the payroll of lifeguards and concession stand workers. Many of the other costs, from electricity to lawn mowing to general maintenance and repair are funded through the budgets of other city departments.

The pools are not designed to be money makers, but instead are meant as a public amenity. Season passes, concessions and the take from the gate merely help defer some of the costs associated with running the pools.

"We try to get close to breaking even," Berner said. "Very seldom do you see municipal pools make money."

Sullivan said if the pool charge for visitors reflected the actual costs, it would be astronomical.

"We don't make money," he said. "That's not our objective."

For the current fiscal year, which runs from July through June, Berner trimmed his operating budget by about $11,000, to come in at about $100,000.That budget has remained steady in recent years. In 2007 Berner said, the pool made a little more than $76,000 from the gate, concessions and season passes. For 2008, it made a little over $106,000. In 2009 the pool brought in almost $102,000. That money helps defray costs, but Berner stressed it takes substantially more money and man hours to keep everything running smooth.

"It's not here to make a profit," he said. "It's here for the enjoyment of the citizens."

In Midwest City, the pool operating budget for the 2009-2010 fiscal year sits at about $250,000. The return is usually about $200,000, Sullivan said.
"But that is not the total cost of operating that facility," Sullivan said. "That doesn't even begin to cover costs associated with running the pool."

Those funds merely help the cities operate the pools and get a slight return on the investment.

Next big splash
For the time being, Eagle Harbor will stay as is. Looking ahead, however, Berner would like to one day build a lazy river to circle the pool. At the swim and slide in Midwest City, a climbing wall on the pool was installed last year at a cost of $22,000.

"It was really, really popular last year," Sullivan said.

Future upgrades in Midwest City will include a remodel of the dated bathhouse and an upgrade to the chemical distribution systems. Funding to begin the process of selecting individuals to do architectural and engineering estimates will not be available until the new fiscal year begins July 1. Sullivan hopes to have the funds in place and the bathhouse renovation and chemical distribution upgrades completed by spring 2012.

"We'll be looking at all the options and costs and make the best decision based on the information the consultants provide us," he said.

Anyone concerned about safety can rest assured that at both pools, lifeguards are certified in rescue procedures, CPR and first aid. They will go through training and frequent refreshers throughout the season to keep them on their toes and ready for any emergency that might arise.

In Midwest City, the pool is open for private rental in the evenings, but each Wednesday when the sun goes down, pool officials host a two-hour in-service training to review safety procedures, deep water rescues and drowning scenarios with the staff of lifeguards.In Del City, Berner holds ongoing training as well, but adds the surprise drowning to gauge the response of his lifeguards and their coolness under pressure.

"I watch to see if they get panicked," he said. "Then we sit down after hours and say, 'OK, here's what we saw, here's how we think you could do it better, or, you did good on this.'" "Kelley Chambers

photo above Midwest City Aquatics Supervisor Steve Anderson
photo below Del City Parks and Recreation Supervisor Steve Berner