MAYFIELD HEIGHTS, Ohio -- “People have told me it reminds them of a resort,” said Mayfield Heights Recreation Director Sean Ward of the city’s new aquatic center while enjoying Tuesday’s (June 4), long-delayed official opening of the recreation area.
Built in tandem with the city’s new community center and service department yard, the project has been a long time coming, having been conceived as part of a 2014 recreation master plan.
Along the way there were many bumps in the road. There were an abundance of discussions and surveys held about what might be included, and worries about rising costs. In March, 2020, when residents were asked to pass an income tax increase to help pay for the project off Marsol Road, even that became a problem as the vote was delayed two months by the COVID-19 pandemic.
That, by way, was the city’s second attempt at getting an income tax increase, as its 2018 try failed.
The pandemic also brought about increases to the project’s cost, from an initial projection of $16 million, to $34 million.
Even the official ribbon cutting was difficult, as it was scheduled for a day in 2023, when the pool was opened for its initial six weeks from late July until early September. On that day, however, cool, rainy conditions forced its cancelation.
But now that the complex has been completed, there’s little question that it has been a hit with residents.
The community center opened earlier this year, and Ward said its party room, or events center as it is called, is booked every weekend into September. The events center can be divided into three rooms and can accommodate up to 230 guests.
The community center also includes a sparkling new gymnasium that includes three basketball courts, the capability of six pickleball courts, and two volleyball courts.
There’s also a fitness room for those 55 and older (younger residents can exercise at Mayfield Wildcat Sport & Fitness facility at Mayfield High School),meeting rooms, and the recreation department offices.
And, while the pools and slides at the aquatic center were jumping during Tuesday’s special grand opening event, it has been busier. There have already been times when more than 600 people have come to the aquatic center’s gates, necessitating its closure to additional guests.
The complex includes an $800,000, soft-surfaced playground for children ages 2-12 built along Marsol Road. The playground includes modern toys such as a climbing tower, zip line and “mom and me” swing set upon which a parent and child can swing while facing each other
The pools are dominated by the giant, 34-foot-high slide. From the slide’s tower, there are three ways to slide down.
“I call the blue slide ‘the Cadillac,’” Ward said of one of one of those ways down, a four-lane racing slide, “because its comfortable and parents and grandparents can slide down with children holding their hands.”
“I call the green (enclosed, circular) slide ‘the Corvette,’” he said. ”It’s faster and it empties into three-and-a-half feet of water. So once you’re let out (of the slide), you can just stand up in the water.”
The gray enclosed slide Ward calls “the Lamborghini,” in that swimmers exit at a higher rate of speed and exit six feet above the 13-foot-deep water.
There are two pools, one which incudes a high-dive and lanes for lap swimmers. The other is a shallow pool that includes an ever-moving current and vortex.
Mayfield Heights resident Alyssa Celico and her neighbor, Heidi Cifra, are now regulars at the new aquatic center.
“I was amazed to see all the things they have here,” Celico said of the first time she entered the aquatic center last summer. “Seeing pictures of it (before its opening) didn’t do it justice.”
Cifra said she and her children used to be regulars at the old Dragga Pool, which is now closed after 65 years of service to the community.
“We were regulars until about the last five years,” she said. “It was boring. When my kids got older, there was no point in going there.”
Cifra said her 15-year-old son will be working at the new aquatic center.
“It is like a resort here,” she said. “We went from having the worst pool in the school district, to having the best.”
The Mayfield Heights Aquatic Center allows swimmers from the communities that make up the Mayfield School District -- Mayfield Heights, Highland Heights, Mayfield Village and Gates Mills.
Tuesday’s special opening event began at 10 a.m. with a ribbon-cutting and a VIP reception for local officials. In addition to Mayfield Heights Mayor Anthony DiCicco, also present were Highland Heights Mayor Chuck Brunello, Jr., Mayfield Mayor Benda Bodnar, and Lyndhurst Mayor Patrick Ward.
Other attendees included Ohio State Senator Jerry Cirino, Cuyahoga County District 6 Councilman Jack Schron, Mayfield Heights City Councilmembers, and Mayfield Schools Superintendent Michael Barnes.
“The ACC (Aquatic and Community Center) is a state-of-the-art facility that was part of a park master plan developed in 2014,” said DiCicco. “Over the past decade, the city administration, council, and residents worked together to bring this $34-million facility to life.
“Despite facing challenges such as two income tax increase campaigns in 2018 and 2020, a pandemic, and labor and material shortages, the project is now completed and ready to be dedicated to the deserving residents of Mayfield Heights.
“The facility will serve as the city’s hub, offering expanded sports and recreation options, informative programs, and special events for residents of all ages.”
On Tuesday afternoon, a VIP resident reception was also held in the community center, this one honoring the families of those featured on the Parks and Recreation History Wall, as well as residents who have been champions of the Aquatic and Community Center project.
The community center’s History Wall was completed just last week as large photos were put in place remembering several men, now all deceased, who played a part in furthering recreation in Mayfield Heights. The Wall includes a photo of Charles Dragga on the day the former city pool opened in 1958; former service director Anthony Fornaro, who worked for the city from 1960 to 2014; former mayor Ross C. DeJohn, the namesake of the former community center; and Don Hohnen, for whom the baseball fields that were formerly on the grounds where the aquatic center is now located, were named.
Beginning Thursday (June 6), Ward said the aquatic center will be open during its regular summer hours -- 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays; 1-9 p.m. Wednesdays; and 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
Ward said pool passes have been selling briskly as residents have taken to their new, first-class recreational facility.
“It used to be at the old (Dragga Pool), when closing time came at 5 o’clock there would be just a few people standing around,” Ward said. “Here, when it’s 7 o’clock, we have to start telling people, ‘OK, you have to go. It’s time to close.’ They don’t want to leave.”
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