CORONA DEL MAR TODAY

City’s Summer Rec Program An “Overwhelming Success”

If your kids have been complaining that summer seemed shorter this year — it was by one week. But that didn’t stop the Newport Beach Summer Recreation programs from showing a 2 percent increase in fees over last year, Newport Beach Recreation and Senior Services Director Laura Detweiler said at a meeting Tuesday night.

“We had ten weeks, not eleven, this summer, and we still saw the 2 percent increase,” Detweiler told members of the Newport Beach Parks, Beaches and Recreation Commission at their monthly meeting. “This summer was an overwhelming success.”

Fees brought in $1,075,06 this summer compared to $1,048,756 in 2009, she said. Tennis and sailing camps showed the biggest jump from $30,783 last year to $55,007 this year — a 44 percent jump — largely because of a partnership with UC-Irvine, she said.

Surfing camp enrollment fees went up 4 percent from $258,788 to $270,195, she said. Enrichment and beach camps went down slightly this summer, by 1.5 percent, and other camping programs were flat. The City Day Camp, run by staff, filled 874 of 900 spots this summer as well.

“Despite the downturn in the economy, our camps realized increases,” she said, attributing the success to staff’s creation of new, exciting camps and programs as well as improved marketing efforts.