Windsor water park, Leamington rec centre struggle to attract visitors

Adventure Bay Family Water Park isnow closed three days a week because the facility has had a difficult time attracting visitors.

• Adventure Bay: Under repair and underused some days

The water park, part of the $78-million downtown aquatic centre, will be closed Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday as management looks to improve attendance numbers.

The decision to close the water park three days a week came after analysing several years of visitor data, explained Jennifer Knights, manager at Adventure Bay.

Reduced hours will only be during the eight-month school year, she said. Full hours will be restored in the busier summer months.

She and her staff are also considering offering specialty programming to attract new visitors. So far, they are considering giving lessons for swimming, snorkeling and kayaking.

Complex problems

Windsor is not alone in its struggle. Over in Leamington, the town's mayor reports a decline in attendance numbers at its recreation complex.

Memberships and overall visitors at the Leamington Kinsmen Recreation Complex have dropped in recent years, Mayor John Paterson told CBC News.

The decline hits the municipality hard financially because any drop in revenue makes the cost of operating the facility that much more expensive.

Revenue dropped from $1.7 million in 2012 to $1.6 million last year. Overall cost to the municipality for the complex reached $2.2 million in 2015, up from $1.5 million in 2012.

"Our membership is not anywhere we'd like it to be, which means the revenue stream is not where we want it to be either," Mayor John Paterson said. "So, we as taxpayers pick up the difference."

He attributes thedecline in attendance to several factors, including competition from other fitness centres. Two or three businesses have opened since the recreation complex was built about 30 years ago.

Memberships also disappeared when the H. J. Heinz Company closed its processing plant in 2014. Former employees used to get discounted memberships at the rec cent.

Paterson said the municipality's administration is working on a strategy to reduce operating costs, while trying to draw in more visitors. Early ideas include reducing staff where possible, re-examining the fee structure and putting more emphasis on popular programs.

"We've got to fix this," Paterson said. "We've got to reverse this tide of ever-rising costs versus ever-falling revenue."