The Arnold Recreation Center, 1695 Missouri State Road, is now open a total of two more hours every week.
Since Feb. 1, the rec center has been open an extra half hour on Mondays through Thursdays, from 5:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. each of those days. Previously, the rec center closed at 7:30 p.m. on those four days.
Hours for Friday through Sunday weren’t extended, but parks department staff would like to see that happen, said Ajsa Hukic, deputy director for the parks department.
“Since (the COVID-19 pandemic), our main goal has been to try to extend our hours back to what we had,” she said. “It is mostly due to staffing that we have not been able to have our previous operating hours. We want to be able to give back to our members to have more time to use the facility.”
Even with the extra 30 minutes on the weekdays, the rec center still closes earlier than before the pandemic, when the facility stayed open to 9 p.m. on those days.
Hukic said the rec center, which has 7,364 members, has five full-time and 56 part-time employees.
She said the parks department has only been able to add enough employees to remain open the extra 30 minutes on weekdays.
“People always ask us if we can be open later on Fridays. Right now, with staffing, we don’t have the manpower to extend any other days,” Hukic said.
Currently, the rec center is open from 5:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Fridays; 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays; and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays.
With the additional operating time on Mondays through Thursdays, the rec center’s basketball courts are available for use for an additional 30 minutes. The basketball courts will close at 7:30 p.m. instead of 7 p.m.
The new hours also extend recreational open swimming and the use of the river and vortex sections of the indoor pool on Mondays and Wednesdays. The indoor pool will be available for those activities until 7:30 p.m. on those days instead of 7 p.m.
The new hours do not change the time reserved for lap swimming on Mondays through Thursdays, when three lanes are open from 5:30-7:30 a.m. and 3-6 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays and one lane is open from 5:30-8:30 a.m. and 3:30-6 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays.
After 6 p.m. those lanes may be used for recreational activities as well.
Hukic said the Parks and Recreation Department wants to hire more part-time staff members for the rec center, and anyone interested in working there may apply online at arnoldmo.org or by requesting an application at the facility.
She said anyone with questions about working at the rec center may contact recreation supervisor Teresa Kohut by calling 636-282-6686 or emailing her at tkohut@arnoldmo.org.
Hukic said it’s difficult to say exactly how many part-time employees would need to be hired for the parks department to further extend rec center operating hours because it depends on how many hours each employee is available to work and what positions they are hired to work.
“So, staffing the building for more hours has a long list of challenges,” she said.
Hukic said the department would like to hire enough employees to re-open the rec center’s Kids Club, which ceased operations during the pandemic.
The club basically provided babysitting services at the rec center so parents or guardians could swim or participate in other activities at the facility.
“(Requests to restart the Kids Club) is something that we hear, but because of staffing, we have not been able to open it,” Hukic said.