Johnson County Park & Recreation District: Parks & Facilities: Roeland Park Aquatic Center (RPAC)

The Roeland Park Aquatic Center located just east of the Roeland Park Community Center, is a cooperative venture between the City of Roeland Park and the JCPRD, which manages and operates the facility.

The RPAC offers, through our quarterly Activities printed catalog and our JCPRD web catalog, programs and activities such as our Learn To Swim programs for ages six months through adult. The center also offers regular classes in diving, snorkeling, scuba diving, lifeguard training and popular water exercise programs for 50 Plus. The facility is also used for training by the Kansas City Blazers, the Stingrays summer youth league swim team, the Kansas City Star Diving Team, as well as by two local high schools. The pool also has regularly classes for scuba diving and underwater hockey. Sign-up to receive an Activities catalog by mail.

Roeland Park Aquatic Centers New Theme Park Feel
RPAC has been converted to an aquatic theme park. Features will include the main pool and a number of other facilities located outside the dome, which are only operated during the summer months: a 120-foot water slide, an eight-foot wide group slide, a Vortex Pool for inner tubes complete with a concrete volcano that periodically “erupts,” and a separate youth pool with a slide and “lemon drop” sprayers.

Special Events at Roeland Park Aquatic Center
A number of special events are offered throughout the year including poolside movies and extended open swim hours over the winter holidays. For RPAC events, dates, locations through the year visit the JCPRD Calendar of Events page.

Summer Open Swim Hours: Mon - Fri 12 pm - 8 pm Sat & Sun 12 pm - 8 pm
Summer Lap Swim Hours: Mon - Fri 6 am - 8 pm Sat & Sun 12 pm - 8 pm

Spring Open Swim Hours: Mon - Fri 12 pm - 5 pm, Fri evening 7:30 pm - 9 pm Sat & Sun 12 pm - 5 pm
Spring Lap Swim Hours: Mon - Fri 6 am - 4:30 pm & 7:30 pm - 9 pm with limited lap lanes 3 pm - 4:30 pm Sat & Sun 12 pm - 5 pm

Winter Swim Hours: Mon - Fri 12 pm - 4:30 pm Sat & Sun 12 pm - 5 pm
Winter Lap Swim Hours: Mon - Fri 6 am to 4:30 pm & 7:30 pm to 9 pm Sat & Sun 1 pm - 5 pm (Limited Lap Lanes 3 pm to 4:30 pm.)

Information Lines
RPAC Phone Line:	913-432-1377
RPAC 24 Hour Info Line:	913- 312-8838
Learn to Swim 24 Hour Info Line:	(913) 312-8832

Five Patron Facility Access Passes:

daily fee (not available during the summer season)

punch cards (good for a specified number of visits)

pool season passes

memberships

party or group arrangement

RPAC Fees: For fees view the Pools, Beaches and Misc. section of our Permits page

Marinas & Beaches: For information please contact (913) 492-2157

50 Meter Pool: The RPAC features a 50-meter inverted “C”-shaped pool with a 25-yard by-25-meter competitive area, a diving well for one- and three-meter boards and a inflatable slide; four 50-meter lap swimming lanes, and a “zero-depth” entry area including sprayers and fountains. Other amenities available throughout the year include a bath house complete with men’s and women’s locker rooms, a family change room, a concession area, expanded parking and a convenient drop-off circle drive, as well as staff offices and a control area.

The Dome: Thanks to an air-supported dome which covers the main pool from September through May, the facility is available for use year-round. For approximately two weeks prior to Memorial Day, the RPAC is closed while crews remove the dome and convert it into an open air facility. It takes 30 to 40 people, working on tarps used to temporarily cover the pool, to handle the 6,800 pounds of fabric which makes up the dome.

Aquatic Theme Park Feature : With the dome’s removal, the facility becomes an aquatic theme park featuring not only the main pool, but a number of other facilities located outside the dome which are only operated during the summer months. These include: a 120-foot water slide, an eight-foot wide group slide, a Vortex Pool for inner tubes complete with a concrete volcano fountain, and a separate youth pool with whale slide and "lemon drop" sprayer. The dome is reinstalled each year after Labor Day, when the RPAC is again closed for about two weeks.

A Cooperative Venture
The Roeland Park Aquatic Center officially opened on Sept. 20, 1997. Discussions between the City of Roeland Park and the Johnson County Park about the possible construction of a new facility began nearly four years earlier and were triggered by the closure in 1993 of an obsolete city pool. An intergovernmental agreement allowed the City to sell the District the approximately four acres the complex sits on. The city in turn agreed to lease-purchase the facility back from the park District over 20 years. To construct the facility, the District issued $3.3 million in revenue bonds, which freed the city from adding to its bond indebtedness.

"By the way, those swim instructors are terrific!"
-Sereena

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