Get your bathing suits, sunscreen and beach towels ready. The Cumming Aquatic Center is opening Monday.

The mayor and city council on Tuesday night approved a recommendation from Greg Little, director of the Cumming Recreation and Parks Department, to open the facility next week.

Little said the center on Pilgrim Mill Road will be open the remainder of this week as well, but only for housekeeping items.

"We want to open … for tours," he said. "We’ve had a large number of people stopping by wanting to see the facility."

Today through Saturday, facility staff will be ready to also handle tasks such as selling passes, swim lesson registration and facility rentals, Little said.

"We recommend anyone wanting to sign up for passes or lessons to come by this week since it will be a lot less crowded than on Monday," he said.

The facility will be open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. this week, and will begin its regular schedule Monday.

That includes 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. for the inside 50-meter competition swimming pool, which includes a diving area.

A smaller, indoor physical therapy pool will be open from 1 to 7 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday.

The outdoor leisure pool, which includes a lazy river, children’s splash area and 156-foot water slide, will be open from 10 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday.

Admission to the facility will be free Monday, Little said.

"We’d like to make that first day free to the public like you suggested," Little told Mayor H. Ford Gravitt.

Gravitt made the suggestion during last month’s council meeting when the facility opening date was first discussed.

After Monday, the facility’s regular fee schedule will be in effect.

Daily admission is $5 for adults and $4 for youth ages 2-17 and seniors 60 and older. Children under 2 are free.

Monthly, 90-day and annual passes will also be available at varying rates.

Gravitt said while the facility will debut Monday, an official grand opening celebration would likely occur sometime in the next few weeks.

He thanked Little and the facility staff for their efforts over the past few months.

"I’d like to commend you and your staff on a job well done," Gravitt said.

The facility is on a 70-acre site that will eventually also house a National Guard armory, Department of Driver Services facility and a campus of North Georgia College & State University.

The aquatic project cost $15 million, with about $5 million from Cumming’s portion of the fifth round of the 1-cent sales tax.

The remaining $10 million came from the sixth round of the tax, paid in advance by the county in December 2008.