How Is the New Quincy Aquatic Center Working for Your Family?

It’s becoming one of those topics that naturally comes up wherever Quincy residents gather.

The new Quincy Aquatic Center has been incredibly popular since opening, and that is something worth celebrating. After years of discussion, planning and construction, families are clearly excited to use the new facility.

But popularity can also create challenges, and we are beginning to hear some mixed feelings from local residents about how the Aquatic Center is being scheduled and managed for community use.

Some parents have told Welcome to Quincy WA News that they purchased family season passes early, expecting the Aquatic Center to be a regular part of their summer. Instead, they say limited open swim times, combined with heavy demand and facility capacity limits, have sometimes made it difficult to actually use those passes when their families are available.

At the same time, a packed pool is a sign that the community wanted this facility and is using it. Programs, lessons, activities and other scheduled uses are also part of what the new Aquatic Center was built to provide.

The question is whether the current balance is working.

Life in the 98848 wants to hear from the community before we take a closer look at the issue.

If you purchased a season pass, has it worked the way you expected? Have you had trouble getting into open swim because of capacity? Are the available swim times working for your family? Do you think the current schedule strikes a good balance between open community swimming and other programs?

Or has your experience been completely different?

We are not looking for only complaints or only praise. We want to understand what is actually happening for the people using the facility.

Snap shot of poll 7/13/26 3PM - Incase the poll is not displaying correctly. We have been getting reports of it not loading

Vote in the poll and share your experience in the comments below. If you purchased a season pass, we would especially like to hear whether you feel you have had reasonable opportunities to use it.

Please keep the conversation constructive. The goal is not to attack the facility, its staff or other users. It is to better understand whether the new Aquatic Center is working for the community the way residents expected — and, if not, where the challenges may be.

From Facebook Comments:

Dustin Petersen

Banning life jackets is a dangerous rule. Only like 1% of public pools do that.

Not allowing kids to ride on the non enclosed slide with an adult is silly. My son was super disappointed because last year we could ride, this year we can’t. Doesn’t make a lot of sense.

The facility itself is great.

Amanda Rodriguez

A card reader would make admission so much quicker, that was a big hold up. Not at all the staff’s fault, just logistics.

Those teens work hard and are wonderful! They are a very professional crew

Estela Garces Ortiz

It needs to be bigger and have more shaded areas for people to sit.

Sharyl Smith

I have heard that shade is definitely needed from several families.

Jessica Wilson

Being turned away has become a regular occurrence for us and I’m starting to wonder if I should request a refund minus the two times we have made it in. We love the pool itself though. I would also like to see more rules for older kids using the water feature toy. I watched a 10 or 11 year old kid waterboard several little toddlers who couldn’t figure out how to get out of his way. The lifeguards are watching for upside down kids and kids using the slide correctly so his behavior was missed. I asked him to stop twice before asking a lifeguard to deal with it.

Kristen Curnutt

The very limited free swim hours are super frustrating, especially since getting registered for swim lessons is nearly impossible. I didn’t even bother to buy a season pass this year because of the limited times.

Lindsey Pass

Times need to be extended and more lifeguards on duty on a regular basis. We had to wait to get in on Monday because there weren’t enough lifeguards for the amount of people, we were waiting 30 minutes that we could have been swimming. It’s very frustrating to get all the kids packed up and ready for the pool and then not be able to get in because of a staffing problem. The employees are courteous and lifeguards are great! We love the little kids area.

Cara Joy Evens

I can’t vote/respond on the poll when I follow the link. I’d like to give feedback.

Daniela Varela

Being their at 1 pm and being a big line turn away 2x already sucks I don’t know about other but I sure don’t whant to stand 1 hour waiting in the heat with little to no shade to be able to be the first people to get in . Longer times as well specially on weekends when you can go as a family to have some fun In the water.

Madison Mæ Vander Veen

Seriously, our whole pool is practically the size of Ephrata’s shallow end now. It’s crazy. We’ve been there three times, and two of those days they were full. Everyone keeps blaming out-of-towners, but the real problem isn’t them, it’s how small our pool is. Big fail on the planners for that one. If you’re going to have super short hours, you need to do time limits with wristbands or something. I was talking to a family at the pool the other day who waited until closing, then got turned away. They waited for three hours.

Erika Navarro

agree, its a small pool when there is more park property to have built it bigger.

Erika Navarro

This project could have been way better. The city of Quincy and the project leaders did not look into this very well.

Amber DeLay Robinson

Oh I dunno maybe have more free swim time and less lessons and walking times?

Cassidy Ottley

Id like to see more free swim hours or even more variation of the hours available.

This Conversation Is Just Beginning

One thing has become clear over the past few days: this discussion is bigger than a single Facebook post or story.

The responses have come from parents who bought season passes, families who have been turned away because the pool reached capacity, residents asking for more shade, longer open swim hours, and operational improvements like faster admission and additional staffing. Just as importantly, many people have also taken time to praise the Aquatic Center itself and the young lifeguards and staff, who have consistently been described as courteous, professional and hard-working.

And the conversation hasn’t been limited to social media.

Over the weekend and into this week, we’ve personally heard people discussing the Aquatic Center at multiple local churches, I was asked about it while at lunch at an area restaurant and even during a Bible study at a neighborhood coffee shop. It’s becoming one of those topics that naturally comes up wherever Quincy residents gather.

That tells us this isn’t simply about a busy pool. It’s a conversation about how our community uses one of its newest public investments and whether the current balance of programming, open swim opportunities and capacity is meeting the expectations of the families it was built to serve.

We’ll continue listening, gathering feedback and talking with community members and Aquatic Center leadership as the summer continues.

If you haven’t shared your experience yet, the conversation is still open. We’d like to hear from you.