Swim park approved for Tracy, California

The City Council has approved plans for a $41.5 million swim park in the city of Tracy, California.

The plan, submitted by The Surland Cos, will see the construction of an aquatic centre with indoor pool, outdoor competition pool and waterslides. It will also feature a fitness centre, picnic areas, a rock climbing wall and a splash playground, reports Tracy Press.

Les Surpa, founder of Surland, said: “This is a communitywide aquatic park for the entire community.”

Surland hired Hotel and Leisure Advisors to examine other California water parks. HLA president David Sangree said that the complex plans will cost $41.5. But they will offer an estimated return of 96% of expenses.

He explained: “We are projecting revenues of $2,751,000 in the first year. That is made up of admissions revenues, annual passes, memberships, aquatic licensing classes, a food and beverage base for an outside operator to provide some food and beverage services, rentals and other income and retail revenue.”

Swim park must “have strong marketing”

The exact costs of the swim park – including personnel, insurance, marketing and utilities – are yet to be examined.

Sangree predicted an attendance of 168,000 people in the first year – from as far away as an hour. He said: “You have to market a place like this. You can’t just hold it and assume it will do well. You have to operate it in a creative manner and have a strong marketing and management effort.”

He also added that the fitness centre would allow the park to run yearly and provide a stable income. He predicted the council would be required to subsidise running costs by about $151,000 in the first year.

Karen Schnaider, city finance director, explained the financing of the project: “With the total collection of all of our impact fees, (it’s) $24 million,” and the remaining $18 million could be raised through selling bonds against other city revenue and the General Fund.

City Manager, Troy Brown, said that the city may be required to consider higher charges to use the centre, to recoup operational costs to the taxpayer.

https://www.goldenstatenewspapers.com/tracy_press/news/multimillion-dollar-swim-park/article_399c382e-83ac-11e7-a2a4-6f7ef0577e89.html