By Andrew de Souza

Field House on the way to self-sufficiency

Feb 14, 2011 | 5:10 AM

Revenues at the Alfred Jenkins Field House for the month of January exceeded expectations and if they continue, the facility will be running at 100 per cent cost recovery, says city community services manager Greg Zeeben.

The city reported the Field House made $58,000 in revenues in January from more than 6,000 drop-ins, program fees and membership sales. That’s about 16 per cent of the $360,000 revenue goal for the year.

“We’re sitting at 16 per cent of our yearly projected revenue at the end of January. It’s quite exceptional really,” Zeeben said.

“If we’re able to manage that kind of revenue, we’ll be able to cover our operating costs. We’re hoping to get somewhere around 100 per cent of our operating costs—that’s our goal.

Patronage has grown quickly since the Field House opened last summer. In August, there were 1,000 paid users but that quickly grew to almost 6,000 users in December. It has since seen smaller but steady growth since, with 6,233 users in January.

education

Auditor finds non-compliance with international trip, credit card and expense claims at Northlands College

3h ago

Court proceedings

Drugs and weapons bust in Stanley Mission, results in two year sentence

23h ago

health care

La Loche recipient of new portable blood analyzer, printer kit

Dec 10, 2024

Those numbers do not include use of the indoor soccer fields by the Prince Albert Youth Soccer Association. However, the group said they have several games every night and practices on the weekends.
City recreation manager Jody Boulet said the facility is being used so much that it can’t offer all programs people want without taking away all free time for casual users.

“We’ve been cautioning staff not to get overly excited and too ambitious on more programming. There’s a lot of interest out there but at the same time we have to manage that interest and make sure we’ve got the available space there,” he said.

Good margins for Field House

Currently, the community services department’s goal is to run at a 50 per cent cost recovery model overall for all its facilities, which include everything from storage sheds to the Cooke Municipal Golf Course.

In recent years, the city has been meeting that goal with 46 per cent and 51 per cent in 2010 and 2009 respectively.

Council chose the 50 per cent mark and that it’s a standard goal for municipalities across the province, Boulet said.

“Our direction has been to make sure that access is there and make sure we’re not reaching or exceeding our price point and making those services available,” he said.

“It’s an investment in recreation, in opportunities for kids, adults and everyone else.”

Setting that balance is important because people deserve the recreation opportunities regardless of their financial realities, Mayor Jim Scarrow said.

“You have to take a look around the community,” said Scarrow.

“We’re looking at all these people who live in our community with various means and the number one thing that council wishes and the city wishes is to have the facilities used and to price them appropriately so everyone can use them.”

adesouza@panow.com