The City of Hartselle held a ribbon cutting Friday for the Hartselle Aquatic Center. | Brent Maze

Hartselle Aquatic Center opened to record Memorial Day weekend attendance, thanks in part to hot, sunny weather and the grand opening of the city’s new $3 million pool.

Aquatic director Lacy Garnett said between 800 and 1,000 people visited the center each day of the three-day weekend, with the largest crowds coming on Memorial Day.

“That’s about double what we had last year,” Garnett said. “We only had about 500 or 600 last year, but we also had rain then.

“It was a very successful weekend,” Garnett added. “It couldn’t have been any better for an opening weekend.”

The number of season passes has also jumped tremendously. As of Tuesday, Garnett said they had nearly 900 season tickets sold. They sold more than 60 season passes in its first hour of operation alone.