Photo Credit: Aquatics Design Group
For most public-sector agencies, building an aquatic center or multi-purpose facility with aquatic components is a rare undertaking. These centers are often some of the most popular and well-used by the community, but they are neither easy nor inexpensive to build and operate.
Do You Need A Center? Before beginning any planning, public-sector agency leaders need to ensure there is a need for an aquatic facility. Tom Diehl, MS, CPRP, Principal of GreenPlay, LLC, and Justin Caron, MBA, Principal and CEO of Aquatic Design Group, gathered recently to discuss how this can be determined.
Diehl advises there are a number of ways to start. “Employees and leadership of an organization may notice that people are asking for an aquatic facility. Emerging trends in recreation may include different aquatic amenities, or a neighboring community may have opened an aquatic facility. The need can also become apparent when new agency leaders have done their assessment and have realized that’s one of the missing pieces.”