The city’s new indoor aquatics and recreation center in Lions Park is still on track to open in May.
Great Falls Park and Recreation staff updated City Commissioners during their Dec. 5 work session on the project’s progress.
Steve Herrig, Park and Rec director, told commissioners that they’d had about $809,000 in change orders, with about $670,000 of those adding alternates into the project.
He said they’ve added seven so far, of the 21 included in the initial bids.
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Some won’t happen he said, due to funding, but he expects five more to come, four of which will be handled inhouse, Herrig told commissioners.
He said staff is working will work with the military over the coming months to get their training schedules and will work to schedule their training around regular community programming.
Jessica Compton, deputy Park and Rec director, said that the department is offering tours of the building and working on goals and objectives for the facility, as well as programming.
She said that they’ll start hiring program coordinators after the first of the year and then get into hiring part-time and seasonal staff.
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Once they set the opening date, she said they’ll schedule staff training.
Herrig said that currently, they have one program coordinator and don’t currently offer a lot of programs, but are looking to expand that.
He said that City Manager Greg Doyon has charged the department with ensuring the new facility is as cost effective as possible.
Herrig said they spoke to their consultant a few weeks ago to firm up financial information and update their facility budget.
Erica McNamee, the city’s recreation and aquatics manager, said that they’re using the consultant’s proforma as a guide to develop membership and fees.
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She said the new aquatic center won’t have a joining fee, and will have four types of memberships. She said fitness classes will be included in those memberships, but some specialty classes, leagues and other events will have additional fees.
The types of memberships, she told commissioners, will be day passes, 12-visit passes, 12-month autobill and an annual pass.
Compton said they’ve found that without a joining fee, more people sign up for memberships.
Mayor Bob Kelly asked to see their projections for membership. He said that he’s heard remarkable numbers on people leaving fitness clubs, particularly around February and March after New Year’s resolutions wear thin.
Doyon said that city staff is going to try to find some flexibility to allow for cost recovery, within the constraints of state law that require fees be set by commission resolution.
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Herrig said that he’ll be back in front of the commission in February to discuss fees for the new indoor pool.
He said staff will likely ask commissioners to approve fee ranges, as they have for the existing Community Recreation Center.
Once commissioners approve a fee structure, Herrig said staff will start selling memberships before the new facility opens.
Herrig said it will likely take two to three years to get the facility’s budget nailed down based on usage patters, fees and operating costs.
Mayor Bob Kelly asked that staff develop an organizational chart and share it with commissioners. He asked if the city could compete with wages to hire for the new facillity.
Herrig said that he feels they can compete in terms of wages, particularly at the coordinator level.
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Park and Rec staff aren’t tied to unions, but some facility maintenance staff will be part of collective bargaining groups, he said.
Kelly said it will likely take awhile to get the facility’s revenue streams going and that it will probably operate at a loss during the first year.
Kelly asked staff about the scholarship concept they mentioned during their presentation.
Herrig said they want to facility to be accessible to everyone and know that some won’t be able to afford it no matter the membership prices.
Through the fundraising campaign, for which the city hired a third party company, some donors dedicated money for scholarships, but Herrig said they could burn through those funds quickly so the city will need to find a sustainable revenue stream.
Commissioner Rick Tryon asked if military members and their families would pay the same rates as city residents.
Herrig said that there’s always some justifications for a military discount, but, “I don’t know that we’ve fully answered yet.”
He said the military will pay fees to use the facility for training.
Tryon asked if Great Falls Public Schools would also pay fees to use the facility.
Construction progressing on city’s new indoor aquatic facility [2022]
Herrig said that if they were using the new facility as an expansion of meets they’re hosting, yes, but they see it as a partnership with GFPS to potentially host state meets across various facilities in Great Falls.
Tryon asked Herrig to again explain why the city didn’t build a 50-meter pool.
Herrig said that in the U.S., high school and college levels swim at 25 yards, and the Olympics and Canada swim at 50-meters.
He said that after their research, a 50-meter pool would have doubled the project cost for the lap pool and wouldn’t have added enough in revenue annually to justify the cost.
The city’s existing Rec Center is transitioning to a daycare facility, leased by a private entity. Once the new aquatics and recreation center is open, the daycare will eventually take over the entire existing rec center, Herrig told commissioners.
He said they’d likely work a provision into the lease that the city can use the gym if needed for major events like the Electric City Winter Classic basketball tournament.
City Manager Greg Doyon told commissioners that the new aquatic and recreation center had been a visionary project identified in the 2016 park and recreation master plan.
He said that he wasn’t optimistic the city would receive the $10 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense, but they did, and the city is matching that with $10 million through the park maintenance district.
Doyon said that he wants staff to work on cost recovery for the new facility and that he had wanted something like a commercial pad on the site to generate revenue.
He said the city still has the opportunity to do that, but that it might now be more controversial because of the facility’s location, but there is a reserved spot on the current site to look at a potential commercial lease in the future to generate revenue toward the facility’s operating costs.
Herrig said staff wants to operate the new facility with the current general fund subsidy toward recreation but the goal is to make the facility self-sufficient and that they will work to build a maintenance fund for the facility.
For more background on the new indoor aquatics and recreation center, read our previous coverage:
City Commission to consider indoor aquatic center change order
City receives $1 million from Scheels to name new aquatics facility
City to consider change order for new indoor aquatic facility
City approves change order for new aquatic center
Construction progressing on city’s new indoor aquatic facility
City approves contract changes for indoor aquatics center
City considering change orders for indoor aquatics center
City reduces cost for aquatic center construction; approves fundraising agreement
City reduces construction contract cost for aquatic center
City staff recommending $18.43 million contract for new aquatic center
City postpones decision on aquatic center construction contract
Staff asking commission to postpone award of aquatic center contract for more review time
City breaks ground on indoor aquatics, recreation center
City considering water main contract for aquatic center on Aug. 17
DoD finds no violation in city process for aquatic center
City budget approved; work on aquatics center continuing
Commissioners approve permit, aggregation and vacating streets for aquatics center
Commission holding public hearings on portions of aquatic center project during May 18 meeting
City Commission sets public hearing on permit for aquatics facility
City Commission scheduled to set public hearing on new aquatic center during April 20 meeting
City planning board unanimously recommends permit approval for aquatic center in Lions Park
City, design team update neighborhood on aquatics facility plans
City continuing plans on aquatics center for Lions Park
City proposes Lions Park as new site for aquatics facility
