On Monday afternoon, people were lined up outside of the Marshalltown Family Aquatic Center, waiting for the doors to open and get admittance to the public pool.

Brooke Vaughn, the concessions and admission manager, said between 200 to 300 people had showed up, dove into the cool waters or bathed in the sun about two hours after opening.

“I think it was good for the opening day,” she said.

There are no new rules or regulations patrons need to be aware of this year. However, Vaughn said the center will not be open on Wednesdays. The decision to close one day of the week this season was made by the Marshalltown City Council during budget cut discussions in January. At that time, the council also decided to shorten the aquatic center season, starting on June 8 and ending Aug. 15.

Thankfully, Vaughn said she has not heard any complaints about that schedule change yet.

Despite the change in hours of operation, Vaughn is in her fourth year of aquatic center employment.

“I really like all of my coworkers,” she said. “It’s really fun, especially since we’re all really young. I just really like working here. It’s fun.”

Fortunately, the aquatic center turned around the norm of recent previous years. The facility is fully staffed. Vaughn believes they were able to achieve that thanks to word-of-mouth.

“More people are looking for summer work this year,” she said. “Even some of the lifeguards from the YMCA have come here to work over the summer.”

AQUATIC CENTER INFO

Name: Marshalltown Family Aquatic Center

Address: 212 Washington St.

Hours: 1 p.m. to 7 p.m., Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday; 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday to Sunday. The center will be closed July 4, and the season ends Aug. 15.

AQUATIC CENTER RULES

• Children younger than 9 must be accompanied by an adult or a responsible person who is 15 years old or older, and who is actively supervising them at all times in and out of the water.

• Everyone must wear proper swim attire. Shorts or shirts with strings hanging and gym shorts are not allowed. All apparel is subject to approval by staff.

• Children who are not potty-trained must wear swim diapers. A swim suit must be worn over the diaper.

• Running is not allowed anywhere in pool areas.

• Breath-holding contests, extended underwater swimming, rough play and wrestling are not allowed.

• When entering the water from the side, people must use feet first, backwards or twirling jumps are not allowed.

• Standing on, pushing off or diving into water from floatable items is not allowed.

• Outside coolers and food are prohibited.

• All of the grounds and parking area are cigarette, vaping and alcohol free. People cannot be under the influence of substances. Violation of these can result in expulsion.

• Personal floats, water wings, toddler floating seats and noodles are only permitted under staff discretion.

• Inner tube-style floats and air mattresses are not permitted.

• Anyone wearing a personal float must be actively supervised by an adult at all times.

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Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.