To: Honorable Mayor and Members of Town Council
From: Jeff Brauer, Director of Parks and Recreation
Title
Discussion/Direction: Recreation Facility Feasibility Study Update
Executive Summary
Since March 27, 1986 and the signing of Resolution 86-13, the Town of Castle Rock has thoughtfully planned, implemented and maintained public recreation facilities supporting active lifestyles, health and wellness, youth development and multi-generational social interaction. The continued support through voter approval has lasted throughout this time. The overwhelming success of the Castle Rock Community Recreation Center and the Miller Activity Complex can be described as innovative and far reaching, continuing to have a positive impact on the quality of life in Castle Rock.
The 2019 Parks and Recreation Capital Fund budget includes funding for a Recreation Facility Feasibility Study. This update to Town Council will provide notice to the community that the Parks and Recreation Department will initiate the process to study the feasibility of an additional recreation facility based on the needs of the community.
The scope of this Recreation Facility Feasibility Study will encompass three primary areas of interest:
• Needs Assessment - community engagement, community partners, recreation trends
• Financial Assessment - capital investment, operational expense, programming revenues and expenses, partnership outreach
• Visioning - architecture, amenities, location
The Town of Castle Rock is uniquely positioned to maintain quality of life expectations for a growing community as we transition from a population of approximately 70,000 to a community of over 100,000. The Town will need continued commitment to meet recreation needs. Most of the facilities and amenities considered as part of this study will not be provided by the private sector, and, in order to maintain excellent recreation services, the time to plan is now.
While growth will continue to fund the incremental expansion of new indoor community recreation facilities, public/private partnerships may provide ways to deliver larger, more innovative projects to residents sooner. Recreation facilities can be an economic driver and serve local needs. Needs can be addressed through facilities such as gymnasiums, ice or indoor fields capable of attracting tournaments with state-of-the-art sports training and venues, or public partnerships with agencies such as the Douglas County School District to create a regional aquatics facility that will also serve the daily needs of residents.
A new facility will take several years to plan, requiring the sufficient appropriation of time in determining community needs; select the program; develop potential partnerships; and, determine operational costs as well as projected revenues and outside economic benefit.
The recreation industry is thriving with a primary emphasis on participation, wellness and experiential fitness. Drivers of this trend include escalating health insurance costs, the demand for healthy lifestyles, increased access to information through technology wearables such as Fitbit, accessibility to streaming exercise classes and adventure-based recreation. The Castle Rock community is a population of participants, seeking new activities and experiences.
Local parks and recreation agencies serve as the cornerstone of nearly every community. They are places where people can go to be active, participate in healthy activities, connect with the community and are uniquely positioned to serve as a hub for health and wellness.
Parks and recreation staff will initiate the project in early 2020 and will begin with a project kickoff to identify potential partners and stakeholders, key project dates and gather data. We expect to enlist the services of a recreation facility consultant to guide the initial phases of the study, which will include a review of existing data as well as a market analysis. We will also develop a detailed financial forecast/pro forma for potential amenities that will help to guide future decision making and identify space needs to aid in future site selection. This analysis will include information related to the overall economic impact of proposed facilities. This process will be completed in late 2020 following resident, Parks and Recreation Commission and Town Council engagement.
Discussion
The Castle Rock community supports Town operated indoor recreation and has for over 30 years with the first project, the Castle Rock Community Recreation Center, which was initially developed in 1988 (population 10,000) through a voter-supported bond initiative. Impact fees were later adopted to provide new community recreation facilities to ensure growth helped pay for growth, funding expansion of the Castle Rock Community Center in 2006 and establishing the Miller Activity Complex in 2014.This year, Town Council reaffirmed growth-funded community recreation and parks through the adoption of an increased 2020 impact fee rate.
The Castle Rock Recreation Center and Miller Activity Complex are community based and family oriented. Private entities, such as Soccer Buddies, Interconnections Yoga, My Gym and others depend on these facilities to operate their small businesses. These entities, along with Town staff, offer cultural arts, life skill development, athletics, fitness and wellness and structured and unstructured play for all generations and abilities. Castle Rock recreation facilities coexist with HOA recreation and private facilities like 24 Hour Fitness and Planet Fitness, because the Town goes beyond the core of offering traditional fitness to provide diverse programming and facilities, such as community pools, gymnasiums and athletic fields that typically are not financially viable as private sector offerings.
Castle Rock’s indoor recreation facilities not only offer wellness programs, childcare, education, cultural arts and employment, but a wide range of senior services, affordable learn to swim programs, developmental athletics and fitness options. They also provide space for school district recreation and athletics. As the community grows, demand for this space increases. Private facilities have helped to meet the needs for fitness; however, they have not done the same for senior services, team and spectator sports or delivered facilities such as gymnasiums, indoor fields, ice or competitive aquatics.
Moving forward, innovative approaches will be needed to maintain the high quality of recreation services that residents have come to expect and frequently give as reasons for living in Castle Rock. The Town’s efforts in the planning and long-term vision have been recognized nationally and at home in Colorado.
“Coloradoans know that Castle Rock is synonymous with natural beauty. The town’s parks and recreation department works tirelessly to preserve wild acres, make the outdoors accessible to all residents and provide high-quality indoor facilities.”
- Ken Buck, United States Senator, July 10, 2018, Congressional Record
“The Town of Castle Rock Parks and Recreation has demonstrated excellence in long-range planning, resource management and innovative approaches to delivering superb park and recreation services with fiscally sound business practices.”
- Mark McHenry, President, American Academy for Park & Recreation Administration, Letter to Director
The Recreation Facility Feasibility Study is consistent with the Town of Castle Rock Comprehensive Plan and the Castle Rock Parks and Recreation Strategic Plan. With the pending expiration of the Douglas County School District intergovernmental agreement (IGA), the timing for this project is appropriate. Castle Rock growth has demonstrated that a tiered approach between private and public facilities is necessary to meet the demand of residents.
Budget Impact
Funding for the Recreation Facility Feasibility Study was budgeted in the 2019 Parks and Recreation Capital Fund under Other Professional Services, line item 130-5275-452.30-70.