George M Silliman Activity Ctr

Over the years I have gone to numerous events at the Aquatic Center, Teen Center, and Sports Center, and I have participated in a triathlon relay with friends. I also swim laps in the morning occasionally, and I have taken their very fun and skillful Junior Lifeguard training course (they also offer the official Red Cross lifeguard training course). The facility is quite new, and is very well kept. The Silliman Center also has a cafe that serves real food in real time. What makes the Silliman Center different from other places is that 1. All the lifeguards are attentive and helpful, 2. the locker rooms are clean, and 3. the facility features not only its famous aquatic center (water slides, lazy river, shallow kids' activity pool, lap pool, and spa), but a teen center (rooms are stocked with billiards, board games, and up-to-date video games), a sports center (huge basketball courts, badminton, and other sports), fitness center (state-of-the-art fitness equipment, aerobics and other fitness classes), and an enormous back field (soccer, baseball, softball, and track). The Silliman Center also offers many camps and courses. All of the above reasons make the Silliman Center a great place to exercise or to just hang out and have fun. more

This Center is an added benefit to the Newark Community. There's plenty to do for all ages. Even the teen center is a plus for our teens to keep them off of the streets and safe on Friday and Saturday nights. However, there are 2 negative downsides that we see. First, the chlorine level in the air is very very strong. If you have a breathing problem like asthma you can't stay inside by the pool for very long. The chlorine will fill your lungs and make it harder to breathe and burn your eyes. One of the solutions that the center has come up with is to watch your children and family through windows if you can get a chair since there aren't that many. That means no interaction with them and picture taking. And just no time with them. The second negative that we have noticed is the bathroom situation. There are 2 entrances to each bathroom. Your children could go in to go to the bathroom from the pool and the wrong kind of person waiting in the bathroom could snatch your child and take them out through the other door and the parents would never know it. more

This new aquatic center in Newark is a great place to take the kids on free swim days. They provide life jackets for even the smallest swimmers so everyone floats and Mom can supervise from a little further away (although supervision is of course mandatory). There is a gretat play structure with slides and water cannons in the middle of a shallow pool and the little ones love this! There is also a full fledged waterslide for the bigger kids, and a current ring for all. For families, they have woinderful family dressing rooms with lots of space, a private shower and bathroom. This is definitely a good place to occupy your kids on a hot summer day! more

I believe the Sillman Activity Center just opened last year and it's a really nice place to go for exercise classes or swimming. My wife has gone there for a aerobics class which she liked and we've gone there together to go swimming. The locker rooms are pretty nice with plentiful day use lockers and showers. The pool has up to 6 lanes (I think) though most nights when we went, there was an aquatic aerobics class going on so there were only 2 lanes available for lap swimming. it's a tad pricey ($8 a pop for non-newark resident), but is a nice facility. more