MOUNT VERNON — Hiawatha Water Park saw increases in admissions and concessions for the 2024 season.
The Mount Vernon water park generated $453,984.59 in total revenue, including $382,703.13 in admissions and $71,281.46 in concessions. Both far exceeded the city’s projections, according to city officials.
The Parks and Recreation department data shows approximately 450-475 memberships were purchased for the 2024 season. Hiawatha Water Park also began taking credit cards, which helped with sales.
Total expenses were $600,076.59 — the majority of that coming from the city’s $455,500 pool management contract.
Though revenue didn’t exceed expenses, city service director Tanner Salyers said, “(the city is) willing to take a hit for the sake of the water park being a service to the community.
“That said, we do need to make sure that it’s not a massive loss and I think we’re doing a pretty good job of that.”
Council President Bruce Hawkins asked recreation director Jeff Derr if the city has considered extending the water park’s season, which ended Aug. 11 for the 2024 season.
Finding available staff becomes a challenge, Salyers said, with 95% being high school-aged employees.
“We’ve talked about longer hours in the evenings,” Salyers said. “We’ve talked about the weekends.
“Those are options still on the table we’d like to explore those but we’re not going to make any commitment now.”