Update: The YMCA hosts a presentation at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 18, at the City of Sequim’s council chambers (152 W. Cedar St.) regarding results of a survey conducted concerning Clallam County Park & Recreation District #1 (SARC). The Sequim Aquatic Recreation Center’s board of commissioners hosts their regular board meeting later that day, set for 5 p.m. at the Sequim Library, 630 N. Sequim Ave.

Local clubs and pools are beginning to see a trickle down effect following the Sequim Aquatic Recreation Center’s closure.

It’s been nearly two weeks since SARC closed on Oct. 30 and former users await the feasibility study for the Clallam County YMCA to tentatively take over managerial duties.

In the meantime, some local businesses are either raising rates to make way for the demand or setting up deals to hook new customers.

Port Angeles’ William Shore Memorial Pool already has seen an increase in its usership from Sequim, reports Steven Burke, pool district executive director.

While it’s still early to compare general admissions from October 2014 and 2015, Burke said they’ve seen 326 new memberships and passes added from Sequim from Oct. 1-Nov. 5.

Burke said they’ve also received 119 swim lessons sign-ups from non-district residents and seen about $14,000 in revenue over that span, too.

Non-district users do come from the west side, he said, but “that’s pretty consistent. Mostly it’s from the Sequim side” including more than a dozen swimmers from the Masters Swim Club.

Any Sequimites considering the PA pool take note that its board of commissioners made new pricing effective on Halloween due to SARC’s closure.

With PA’s pool district subsidizing the facility by more than 50 percent at 17 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation or $480,000 annually, the new non-district price is set for the “actual cost of operating the facility.”

For example, single admission is $5.25 for an in-district adult and $10.50 for a non-district adult, and an annual membership paid monthly is $31.50 for an in-district adult and $63 for a non-district adult.

However, commissioners opted to increase swim lessons by $6 to $50 for non-district children.

The William Shore pool has about 7,000 active memberships, Burke said, and they aren’t actively promoting the facility for more users.

“We don’t need anymore,” he said. “We’re literally busting at the seams. It really hurt us that SARC closed. If we give anyone else room, we have to take from somebody else. We’ll be excited to see someone else reopen it.”

If Sequim users need to use the facility, he recommends, if possible, lunchtime and early afternoon due to space.

To the east, Port Towns-end’s Mountain View Pool has had a few feelers said lead pool operator Seth Leighton.

“We have had more calls than actual swimmers,” he said. “We’ve definitely had people sign up for swimming lessons and a couple do rec swimming. We are welcoming new swimmers though.”

Leighton said their time slots are similar to Port Angeles’ availability but they haven’t increased prices or done any promotions to bring in new users.

“With prices this low we don’t have to do specials,” he said.

An annual membership to the PT pool costs $612 for an adult with other packages available.

Leighton said he’s unsure if they’ve sold any passes to Sequim residents yet but one child has signed up for swim lessons from Sequim and another resident wanted a tour.

Other outlets

With several other gyms and clubs in the area, Sequim Gym and Anytime Fitness report the most impact following SARC’s closure.

Kevin Pedrey, co-owner of Sequim Gym, said SARC’s closure has increased his business so much he’s considering temporarily stopping enrollment.

“We averaged about 30 new members a month before SARC closed and in the last month we’ve probably added almost 200 new members,” he said.

“We’re still trying to plan this out and if we’re going to keep enrolling.”

Sequim Gym is open 24 hours, and it’s busiest from 7 a.m.-noon, steady in the afternoon but dies down in the evening, Pedrey said.

“It’s hard to say if we’ll close enrollment because it’s a tricky thing,” he said. “We’ll keep assessing it.”

Erin Green, new co-owner of Sequim Anytime Fitness, said they are seeing an influx of new members and people looking for a gym. She and her husband Art took over ownership a little over a week ago and said they haven’t sat down and tracked those numbers just yet but in that short amount of time she sees a difference.

“Traffic has definitely picked up,” she said.

Nikki Julmist, owner of SportsFit Training Center, said she’s been targeting SARC members with a new promotion that offers the first month of training for half price to card-carrying SARC members.

She says a few people have tried it but most of the former SARC gym users likely look for a place with similar equipment. Julmist said she plans to continue the promotion indefinitely.

Pauline Geraci, owner of Fit4Life Studio, which offers strength training, cycling, suspension training and more, said SARC’s yoga instructor now teaches at her studio.

Geraci said she’s seen about 30 SARC members join because of that.

Elsewhere the impact has been minimal, officials said.

At the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula, Janet Gray, resource development director, said they recently received one new member in Sequim likely as a result of SARC closing.

She said new members typically sign up in the summer and before school starts.

Michael Smith, executive director of the Shipley Center, said they haven’t seen a big influx of new members/users with a few people coming over to explore class options.

Prior to closing, he said the center had an agreement with SARC that its members would receive a 10-percent discount in exchange for promoting in the center’s newsletter, brochure and with a banner in the building.

“We will miss our members taking advantage of that discount,” Smith said.

Len Borchers, acting director for the Clallam County Family YMCA in Port Angeles, said they’ve had a number of interested parties come in particularly racketball players.

“We’ve done some schedule adjustments to accommodate that,” he said.

A majority of those checking out the YMCA’s services live in between Sequim and Port Angeles, Borchers said.

“People are really interested,” he said. “It’s going to take awhile before we get a solution in place.”