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Posted Feb 15, 2016, 4:26 PM
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Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Windsor, On.
Posts: 1,862
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Aquatic Centre
And another story. It turns out the aquatic centre is already sinking in debt. Attendance has dropped, and repairs are mounting.
source: http://windsorstar.com/news/local-ne...onders-plummet
Quote:
Attendance took a nosedive last year at the funnest part of the complex, the waterslide-filled Adventure Bay. Figures obtained this week by the Star show that paid visits to Adventure Bay dropped 32 per cent last year, from 171,069 paying customers in 2014 — its first full year of operations — to 116,120 in 2015.
“It’s very disturbing — we have a pretty big investment there,” said Ward 9 Coun. Hilary Payne, one of the biggest initial boosters of the project.
And that big investment by local taxpayers is growing, as the city is forced into boosting its financial support to compensate for shrinking admission revenues and to make up for escalating costs like utilities.
When city council approved going ahead with Adventure Bay and the Windsor International Aquatic and Training Centre in December 2011, the annual operating cost to taxpayers was projected at just under $1.5 million.
And that figure was to be almost completely offset by $1.3 million in savings from council’s plan to close the pools at Windsor Water World and Adie Knox community centre, as well as the city vacating the College Avenue community centre.
But the actual taxpayer tab for the downtown aquatic complex in 2014 was $3.5 million. And, responding to a community uproar, council reversed itself on the Adie Knox pool closing.
“Those numbers stick out — they’re very disconcerting,” said Ward 3 Coun. Rino Bortolin. “This would never have been approved by council if it had come in with $3.5 million added (to the city budget).”
“Clearly, it’s costing more than we had projected — anytime that happens, it’s concerning,” said city treasurer Onorio Colucci. From the beginning, however, Windsor chief administrative officer Helga Reidel said council was repeatedly advised by staff that the initial operating cost projections were best estimates only — given the fact there was no similar facility with which to make comparisons.
Final operating figures for 2015 have yet to be reported to council, but almost a third ($725,685) of the $2.2 million budget overshoot in 2014 was for a shortfall in fees, permits and charges — in part, due to lower-than-anticipated attendance. A quarter ($573,000) of that shortfall was for unanticipated hydro rate hikes by the province.
The fiscal slide continued in 2015. In the most recent update to council in October, the third-quarter operating budget variance report anticipated “lower than projected attendance levels at Adventure Bay” would translate into an $886,000 shortfall in overall budgeted revenues.
Administration is responding with cost-saving “mitigation strategies” that include shutting down some operations during off-peak periods.
After March Break this year, some of the Adventure Bay programming will be reduced, with less weekday early-bird morning sessions and one of the “starlight” weeknight sessions being eliminated.
This year will see savings on lifeguard expenses following an audit with the Lifesaving Society that resulted in a reduction in the number of required on-site lifeguards needed for supervision. A one-week shutdown last September for maintenance will be continued again this year, and a number of holidays will see shortened hours.
In recognition of falling visitor numbers, council on budget night approved a reduction in anticipated aquatic complex revenue in 2016 of almost $750,000 — from $4,293,720 to $3.546,051.
Currently under review is the feasibility of a combined heat and power co-generation plant that Colucci said could shave between $300,000 and $500,000 off the annual utilities bill. Not part of the annual budget for the aquatic complex, but benefiting from its location since last spring, is a rooftop solar panel installation generating about $270,000 a year for city coffers.
Mayor Drew Dilkens points to those cost-saving and revenue-generating initiatives, as well as proposed new marketing initiatives, as part of the ongoing effort to stabilize the operation.
The city’s 2016 budget saw $50,000 added to the existing annual marketing budget of $100,000. Marketing in the U.S. “can be costly,” staff said in a report, but it’s seen as essential to attract more visitors.
“Would we like to see more people? Absolutely,” said Dilkens, who, as a councillor, headed the steering committee that saw construction of the complex completed on budget. Dilkens said the aquatic complex is the result of the community asking for something to serve as a downtown attraction for families.
“I’m not denying it’s a great thing,” said Bortolin, who represents the downtown on council. But the mounting costs show the aquatic complex consumes an “enormous” amount of tax dollars, and he wonders if that money could be better spent elsewhere.
Even with the millions in annual taxpayer subsidies, Bortolin said an Adventure Bay outing is quite expensive for the average Windsor family. Last year, he said he took his three boys there “maybe three times,” but even on the cheaper weekday nights, Bortolin said a family outing to Adventure Bay can run $60.
“It was built for the kids, but it’s unattainable for many who live around there,” Bortolin said. Give an extra $3.5 million to the library system, he added, “and we could convert each branch into an innovation hub.”
Combined with the adjoining Windsor International Aquatic and Training Centre, Adventure Bay has proven a “tremendous addition” to the downtown, said Gordon Orr of Tourism Windsor Essex Pelee Island. He added that a number of local hotels offer packages that include admission to the facility.
Compared to the price of a movie, Orr said Adventure Bay is a good value and a great recreational destination for Windsorites entertaining visiting friends and relatives.
Despite the disturbing numbers, Payne said he has “no regrets” supporting Adventure Bay. He suggests creating an operating committee of councillors, similar to the group formed during the design and build of the facility.
Bortolin recently asked administration to report back on the cost and feasibility of separating the Adventure Bay portion from the rest of the Windsor International Aquatic and Training Centre in order to examine clearly what the two operations each cost.
“If Adventure Bay is costing us $2 million (annually) no matter what we do, then we have to start making tough decisions,” said Bortolin.
While there’s no “sugar-coating” the numbers, Colucci said Adventure Bay was never intended to be a for-profit enterprise and that it was designed as a Windsor family attraction in the downtown. Last year’s 116,000 paying visitors might have been a drop, but he indicated that’s a significant number of people attracted to the city’s core.
More than 25,000 of last year’s visitors were non-residents, who pay slightly higher admission fees than Windsorites.
“I just hope when people look at it, they look at the whole picture … it’s a tremendous amenity,” said Colucci.
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For the shine has worn off this project. It's another Windsor white elephant. We have an arena in the east end of the city surrounded by empty properties owned by Farhi. With the investment of the WFCU centre the city hasn't been able to leverage that investment into private spin off investments. There are no hotels and restaurants located near the arena so pretty much everyone piles into their cars, goes to a Spits game and then goes home.
Last edited by Symz; Feb 15, 2016 at 9:50 PM.
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