Friday, May 6, 2022 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com • A5
Rec center: District
looks to future goals
Continued from Page A1
R.J. Marx
Broadway Field: ‘The school
district has a desire to do this’
Continued from Page A1
Office for Civil Rights to provide
more equity between girls and
boys sports facilities, a result of a
2021 decision. The school district
has until June 2023 to complete the
project.
In February, the school board
voted to focus on Wahanna as the
top candidate for the new facility.
This led to a land survey, geologic
testing and wetlands delineation
study.
When geotechnical stud-
ies revealed poor drainage and
unsuitable soil, the school district
returned to the idea of reconsider-
ing Broadway Field.
Agreement
The school district, park dis-
trict and city are partners in an
intergovernmental
agreement
originally signed in July 2012,
at the field’s debut. According to
terms, the city and school district
may use the field, which is man-
aged by the park district. The city
owns the land and is responsible
for litter control and custodial ser-
vices for permanent restrooms.
The agreement calls for the
park district to establish a field
replacement fund to receive
money from user fees to help
replace the fields.
“We do have a Broadway Field
fund and have over the past few
years transferred money from the
general fund to that fund for the
purpose of potential field replace-
ment,” Archibald said after the
meeting. “However, the funds that
were expected from user fees have
not been realized so the Broad-
way Field fund is not as robust as
ideal.”
In her letter to the park dis-
trict, Penrod proposed improved
softball facility, construction of
a new storage building, a netting
along the northern property line to
protect adjacent homes from foul
balls, and possible synthetic turf
replacement for the baseball and
football fields.
Archibald said this may be the
time to move forward with the
turf replacement as Broadway
Field exceeds its life expectancy.
“The school district has a
desire to do this,” Archibald said.
“Maybe this is a good opportunity
for us to invest in capital funds
and repair or update the locker
rooms to make sure we have equi-
table space in there for boys and
girls sports teams.”
Board member Erika Hamer
energytrust.org
Marshall said she hoped the
school district would bear its fair
share of the costs. ““I feel they’re
making assumptions that we’re
just going to go ahead with what-
ever plans they present. They
need to step up and be a better
partner with us. They may need to
buy property from us.”
Even with cooperation and
financing, Archibald said he fears
the upgrades made necessary by
the Civil Rights decision might
not be doable in the time frame
demanded by the federal decision.
“It’s pretty worrisome that
they’re supposed to have the plan
in place by June 2023,” Archibald
said. “They’re supposed to have
a plan presented in December in
some way. Even in the best cir-
cumstances, it’s a really tight
timeline considering that there’s
action on that field everyday
right now, and there’ll be action
out there until November at the
earliest.”
Archibald said the three parties
meet consistently and this remains
a topic for discussion. “My hope
is that once the softball field loca-
tion is determined we can move
forward on adjusting the current
agreement to the satisfaction of
the parties in the IGA.”
Consultants provided an over-
view of the market and existing
facilities, developed preliminary
program space allocations, fore-
casted financial performance in
facility operations, as well as
economic impact and made rec-
ommendations for the center’s
next steps.
The report describes existing
space as administration, early
childhood, gyms, locker rooms,
and
community
recreation
space. Education and child care
areas feature a dedicated entry
and program space for preschool
and early education, including
rooms for infants and toddlers.
Space for arts, music and dance
programming will take place in
the performing arts room. Flex-
ible classrooms can be used as
additional arts space.
Access through the commu-
nity recreation entry will allow
access to the fitness areas, as
well as the gymnasiums and
locker rooms, without disturb-
ing child care or tenants. Special
events will be presented in an
area adjacent to the kitchen —
the current cafeteria — and will
allow private events uninter-
rupted space as a result of a clos-
able glass wall that will isolate
the area from adjacent spaces.
Leased space will include
areas for business related tenants
that share complementary mis-
sions and interests as the park
district. Tenant areas are secured
from the park district program
spaces with a dedicated entry.
To meet financial goals, the
report recommends a funding
plan to cover the cost of reno-
vation. A long-term plan must
be developed to cover long-
term capital improvement and
replacement costs.
Revenue forecasts, based on
existing programs and new pro-
grams, show steady increases
as sports tournaments, educa-
tion, arts and fitness programs
increase. Building rentals and
vending also add to the financial
revenue forecast.
Programs such as the child
care, fitness membership, and
tenant rental spaces are import-
ant to the overall performance
of the model, consultants wrote.
“These spaces have an opportu-
nity to contribute to the overall
profitability of the center, how-
ever additional program and
rental revenue may be needed
to address the anticipated annual
operational subsidy of approxi-
mately $500,000.”
Rental tournaments could
allow the district to capitalize
further partnerships with exist-
ing service providers.
“I feel the projections are rea-
sonable,” Archibald said. “How-
ever, they come as projections
and different circumstances pres-
ent may alter the projections.
The main point I have from the
projections is that the building
can be operated sustainably and
offer a large amount of programs
and services in the future.:
As for a name, the building’s
two gyms and the center are up
for ideas.
Sunset Recreation Center will
remain the building name for
now, although sponsorship may
be an option.
“I’m all for some big com-
pany coming in and throw-
ing in a whole bunch of money
and we call it — whatever —
Nike,” board president Katha-
rine Parker said.
Hamer Marshall suggested
honoring Stubby Lyons, the for-
mer Seaside High School coach
and city councilor who died in
late 2020.
“We chose to label it the Sun-
set Recreation Center to help
pivot the building in the minds
of our community to its new
owners and uses,” Archibald
said. “”The name wasn’t nec-
essarily intended to be perma-
nent but is working adequately
now. I think we’d be open to a
discussion about naming rights/
sponsors, etc — but we haven’t
invested any resources into pur-
suing that.”
The district paid $62,000 for
the report with an additional
$3,000 in travel expenses.
The report will be used for
the strategic plan and posted on
the city website, board president
Katharine Parker said. “Then
we’ll start having meetings for
an overarching strategic plan for
the district.”