By Kris Leonhardt

WISCONSIN RAPIDS – Wisconsin Rapids Mayor Shane Blaser said that he considers the first full season for the Wisconsin Rapids Recreation Complex to be a “successful year.”

The aquatics facility opened in July 2020, missing over a month of active summer time; but, operated the full season in 2021, which the mayor said went well.

“We budgeted money, and we did not exceed that budget,” Blaser said.

An Oct. 25 report showed over $410K in complex revenues, including about $193,429 in admission revenue; $279,286 in concessions, rental, and program fee income; and $131,360 in property tax revenue.

The report shows 403 season passes sold – 303 for residents, 69 non-resident, and 31 veteran – and 21,080 day passes.

Complex operating expenses landed around $341K, with about $286,120 in operations and maintenance, $54,984 in concessions, and $163 in programming.

Naming of complex

At their October meeting, members of the Wisconsin Rapids Parks & Recreation Commission narrowed name selections for the aquatics center park area down to two.

Dawn Desorcy, administrative assistant with the city, said that city staff had a “big list of names” and selected some that were relevant to the area.

“What we had told the public before was that the commission would decide on a number of names; they would narrow it down; and then the public would vote from there,” she recalled.

“We do appreciate the participation, because there were a lot of creative names that came in…”

From there, the commission narrowed the names down to two – “Witter Community Park” and “Witter Park.”

The selected names will be put to a public vote.

Season passes for 2022

During their November meeting, the commission approved season pass rates for the 2022 season.

While all season pass rates will remain the same from 2021, the number of family members included in a family season pass will go from four to five, with a two adult maximum. Additional family members, over the five-person limit, will be charged $25, instead of the $10 charge families saw in 2021.

City staff said that early bird specials on season passes will be available again this year.