2003-08-23 Study - Laserfiche WebLink

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Session 1895 August 23, 2003 AGENDA ITEM #2 - RECREATIONAL FACILITY EXPANSION Mr. Ollendorff advised that a survey, Proposition K and the Park Commission mostly agree on the key features of this program being the need for: 1. An expanded fitness center, 2. A gym for basketball with an elevated track 3. A soccer dome. The next step, he recommends to Council, is to consult several qualified design teams to provided suggestions for consideration at an Executive Session in September. After selection of appropriate designs sometime this fall, preliminary plans can be available for review by citizens. This winter is the target date for final plans, with construction starting in the spring of 2004. Council will need to advise the design team of specific needs in the facility. Mr. Ollendorff advised that both Proposition K and the Park Commission asked for the following entities: staff and volunteer offices, meeting rooms, a kitchen, abundant storage space, fully-equipped locker rooms, and flexible multi-purpose rooms. He agrees that these items are feasible, minimally. Final decision would follow submission of final plans from design consultants. The Parks Commission asked for additional items, but only if there is room and if there are funds to manage them. In priority order they are: playroom for children of fitness center users, racquetball courts, and a sauna and a whirlpool. Additionally, Proposition K asked for daycare facilities and a game room with a television. Proposition K and the Parks Commission identified three additional needs, but suggested they are long-term and future issues, and need not be in Heman Park. They are facilities for indoor tennis, an indoor pool, and skateboard park, which Mr. Ollendorff endorses for future study. They are not currently affordable, nor is Heman Park the appropriate location for them. These recommendations reflect the general agreement of citizens through the survey, the City staff, Proposition K, the Parks Commission and the City Manager. Mr. Wagner recommends not having a flat roof on the gym. And since 3500 to 4000 square feet is desirable for the fitness area, he suggests moving the lobby out of the fitness area, and creating a common lobby elsewhere. Ms. Welsch does not agree with the claim of unanimity on priorities of what the recreation center should be, based on seven hundred surveys received by Proposition K and the Parks Commission. She believes there is no reason to rush this project. She would like to take the Proposition K survey results and talk to more people to devise a master plan. A quick, intensive September to January effort could result in postponing the program a few months. The new Parks and Recreation Director's experience in planning could be applied upon her arrival in November. The major expense of the project demands this. She disagrees that basketball, gym and track were of major interest; instead she cites the provision of meeting rooms and of dining and meeting rooms for seniors as the major interest. She recommends generating a master plan, then completing Page 5