Serving the community and University for more than 30 years, the Portage Quarry Recreation Club continues to offer service for swimming and diving enthusiasts around the world from Memorial Day through mid-September.

Some people thought this may not have been the case as the quarry was rumored to close last summer.

While it was bought by a construction company, owner/operator of the recreation club Jeff Rice said there will be no change as of this time.

Office manager Monica Lynn said Rice leases the land while maintaining the club and said it has several more years ahead. She said the water quality would not be affected by the purchase.

Lynn said the rumors may have even bolstered business last year.

“We’ve had great support,” Lynn said. “The students just came out en masse last year and they’re still coming … Memorial Day weekend we’ve been packed. Every hot day we’ve been packed.”

Rice said that while the club receives business from lots of families and divers (particularly on weekends), the majority of its use comes from high school and college students.

Employees are also largely comprised of students from the University and surrounding high schools, with the majority of the students being lifeguards certified in the University’s program.

Rice said a lot of students started working around the first of April, and two students worked full-time to prepare for its May opening.

“We are dependent on the students at the University,” Rice said. “We try to do what we can to be there for them.”

University senior and Quarry lifeguard Matt Rice said he found his job because of his roommate, who would come to the Quarry every day and knew that Matt’s previous lifeguard experience would fit in.

He recommends it to colleagues in the University Activities Organization.

“It’s really cheap, you can definitely get your money’s worth and you can easily spend eight hours here,” Matt said.

Matt said he knew of the Quarry previously as a hang-out spot and said the lifeguards refer to the atmosphere as “spring break, but in the summer.”

“When it’s really crowded, it’s basically all college students,” he said. “I would not change anything, because the different people that come here just make the place what it is.”

University junior Cody Evans said the Quarry is a convenient place for locals to go, and he finds it a good place to relate to friends and enjoys the fact that people can come out and camp at the quarry.

Another crucial factor to the Quarry’s atmosphere is the water. Jeff Rice said the water is very clear because it is fed by two underground crystal springs, and the fact the quarry itself is limestone helps purify it as well.

Jeff attributes the fish life and nature balance to keeping the Quarry’s bacteria levels lower than many swimming pools.

“The aquatic balance of the Quarry has been what has kept the Quarry in such perfect shape,” he said. “It’s all pure, it’s all nature, it’s all green. We don’t put anything in the water, we don’t do anything to it.”

To maintain the balance of nature, fishing is not allowed at the Quarry, Jeff said.

As a diving instructor, Jeff enjoys the peace and quiet offered underwater.

“The phone doesn’t ring down there,” Jeff said. “I was in a business where the phone was constantly ringing … I would go diving and you could sit there and just watch the fish barely move.”

Jeff said the Quarry is also certified as a Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) resort.

“We certify students from other instructors, and we have instructors on our staff that teach scuba diving all the time,” Jeff said. “When we certify you, you are certified as a PADI open water student.”

The Quarry’s commitment to diving has been reflected in things like a museum full of diving memorabilia near the entrance of the club, and its visitors include some diving pioneers.

The International Legends of Diving event has been held annually at the Quarry since 2006 and has attracted influential divers to come and speak at the event. Dr. Jose Jones will be coming to the Quarry in August.

“We have had some of the very first people in diving here,” Rice said.

The club has also been recognized for its service to the Divers Alert Network by presenting Rice with the organization’s first President’s Award in July 2010, and the Scuba Museum voted it Dive Shop of the Year in 2010.

The Quarry also features events such as barbecues and concerts, including the upcoming July 4 BlowOut and the Jimmy Buffett tribute band Parrots of the Caribbean in August, which are events geared toward the family.