Get to Know the Natatorium's New Leader

Meet Lori Visner! She’s the new facility director for the and

Visner spent the last eight years working as the deputy service director at city hall, but after she was approached for the soon to be vacant director’s position, she decided it was time to take on a leadership role.

The Falls native lives in town with her family and has been a member of the Natatorium since the building reopened in 2004. She earned her bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Akron and a master’s degree in public administration from Kent State University. Visner has been on the job for just two months now.

Why did you decide to take this job?

“It just seemed like a really neat opportunity, just a change, a director role, which I was certainly interested in. It’s hard going out of what you know everyday, but the more I chewed on it, I thought this would be a really awesome opportunity, a really good chance to have a leadership role. Obviously in these economic times, everybody’s under a tight budget and that’s something I worked very closely with over in service—a lot of budgeting."

What new ideas are you thinking of bringing to the table? 

“Right now, there are just certain trends you have to stay up on, like Zumba. It’s very trendy, it’s very popular and there’s a high demand for that. We’re working right now on the corporate side, we have a corporate program to bring in businesses and we’re brainstorming on that end too. You could get four people or you could get 40. We’re trying to find ways to utilize the community wing differently. We’re always thinking about youth programs that we can bring to this facility. We do meet monthly (the parks and recreation department) just to brainstorm, just to bring ideas in.”

What trends are you noticing at the Natatorium?

“I think in the past, years and years ago, the summers really tapered off, but that’s not happening anymore. It’s staying very stable and it’s staying very busy, which is good for us. The beginning of the week used to always be the most popular, but I would say Wednesdays lately, we’ve noticed a trend, it’s just as busy as Mondays.” 

How do you reach out to families in town?

The tagline is “whole fitness for the whole family’ and that’s what they repeat over and over again, it is very true. We have a youth area just for equipment geared for small frames for children. Most of the equipment is imported from Italy—it’s so unique. They do have babysitting, so you can come and drop off your little one and go workout for an hour or two. On the other side, you have the whole aquatic area, with the splash area and that’s great for children. We have the laps and the spa as well. I certainly think we work really hard to reach out to all age groups.”