By Tom Welander
The city of Atlanta offers steeply discounted swimming pool admission in the form of 10- and 20-visit Splash Cards. The cards can be purchased online at https://apm.activecommunities.com/atlantadprca/Membership. The cost for adult residents is $37.50 for 10 visits and $75.00 for 20 visits. The cost for children and senior residents is $17.50 for 10 visits and $35.00 for 20 visits. These cards are accepted for admission at all of the city’s indoor and outdoor pools.
This information is noteworthy for two reasons. First, because the city’s recent move to eliminate reduced entrance fees for children has decimated pool attendance during paid swim hours. Additionally, the higher admission prices have cut attendance so much that there’s almost certainly a corresponding loss of revenue collected.
The second reason is that neither the city nor the pool operator, American Pools, publicizes the availability of these Splash Cards. The city’s online swimming pool schedule and the signage at the entrance to the Grant Park pool only mention the $5 per person admission rate.
I learned about the existence of the secret Splash Card after obtaining American Pool’s contract to operate the city’s outdoor swimming pools via an open records request. The contract states that the vendor is obligated to accept these Splash Cards as well as the all-you-can-swim Summer Passes. The latter is yet another option that visitors of all ages can pay for substantially less to use city pools. The city’s Acting Aquatic Director, Sonia Wimbish, confirmed to me via email that city pools do indeed accept these payment methods.
We have a fantastic facility in our neighborhood. I want to see it fully utilized by our community.
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