Memorandum

City of Lawrence

Parks and Recreation Department

TO:	Dave Corliss, Interim City Manager Debbie Van Saun, Assistant City Manager
FROM:	Fred DeVictor, Director, Parks and Recreation Department
Date:	April 10, 2006
RE:	Carnegie Community Center Business Plan

We submit the following Business Plan as additional detail to our proposal for the Carnegie Community Center.  As a multi-use facility operated by the Parks and Recreation Department for the community, the Carnegie Community Center offers the following advantages:

· Provide additional affordable meeting/rental space in the downtown area for the public.

· Expansion of Parks & Recreation Department class offerings.

· Provide downtown location for office for National Park Service/ National Heritage Area.

· Annual operating and maintenance expenses could be offset with new revenue from the aforementioned meeting/rental space and class offerings.

If our proposal is selected, Department staff would like to work with the architects during the final design of the building to help facilitate future operations and supervision of the Center.

We anticipate the building to be available during the last quarter of 2007 and would look forward to its successful conversion into a public use facility operated by the Parks and Recreation Department.  Thank you for your consideration of this additional information.

Carnegie Community Center Business Plan

This Carnegie Community Center Business Plan is submitted to supplement the Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department application for the Carnegie facility and to provide the additional information requested from the March 9 Lawrence City Commission study session. 

As stated in the original proposal, Parks and Recreation’s operation of the facility would allow the department to provide affordable meeting/rental space in the Downtown area for the public and to expand its class offerings.  The department currently operates the Union Pacific Depot and makes available to the public other spaces in recreation centers, when not in use for department programming. If the Carnegie facility is kept in the public domain, it could be used for a wide variety of community activities and events.  The Department receives many requests for public facility space in excess of the capacity of currently operated facilities.  Here’s a sampling of the downtown area facilities that were rented to the public in 2005:

Union Pacific Depot

The Union Pacific Depot is the department’s primary rental facility.  As a shared-use facility with the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce/Lawrence Visitor’s Center, the Depot is often unable to accommodate all the requests for public rental of the facility. The main rental space at the Depot has a seating capacity of 70 people in a seated arrangement.  In 2005, rentals of the Union Pacific Depot generated the following revenue:

Facility	Size	# of Rentals	Fees Collected
Community Room	1050 sq ft	207	$22,830
Theater Room	335 sq ft	70	3,034
Entire Facility	1385 sq ft	19	2,735
TOTAL		296	$28,599

South Park Recreation Center

The South Park Recreation Center is used by the public for a variety of events including: Art in the Park, Fall Arts and Crafts Festival, the German Fall Festival. It is also rented as community meeting space for union meetings and self help groups. Individuals utilize the facility for family reunions, wedding/anniversary receptions, bridal showers and birthday parties.  In 2005, rentals of the South Park Recreation Center generated the following revenue:

Facility	Size	# of Rentals	Fees Collected
Fode Room	1510 sq ft	106	$5340
Sunflower Room	700 sq ft	49	$796
Conference Room	310 sq ft	125	$614
Total	2520 sq ft	280	$6750

Community Building

The Community Building is rented for public events including: an annual quilt show, holiday bizarre and United Way events.  City departments use it for a variety of seminars, luncheons, training sessions and meetings. Parks and Recreation uses it extensively for its programs and activities.  Individuals use it for family reunions, wedding/anniversary receptions, bridal showers and birthday parties.  In 2005, rentals of the Community Building generated the following revenue:

Facility	Size	# of Rentals	Fees Collected
Comm. Room # 1	1160 sq ft	7	$252
Comm. Room # 2	1460 sq ft	135	$5034
Comm. room # 3	2275 sq ft	19	$1245
Total	4895 sq ft	161	$6531

Carnegie Community Center

For the Carnegie Community Center, the following rates/fees would be suggested for renting the facility:  Big Room – 2450 sq. ft of rentable space (formally the performance hall) - $75; Small Room – 600 sq. ft. of rentable space (formally the gallery space) - $25 and the Big and Small Room - $100. Based upon 2005 Union Pacific Depot rentals, we estimate fees collected for renting the Carnegie Community Center to generate $60,000 - $75,000 in revenue.

As stated above, the addition of the Carnegie building to the Parks and Recreation Department managed facilities would provide additional space for programming to the community.  Classes proposed to be offered in the facility could include:

o Ballroom Dancing (currently being offered at South Park Recreation Center – would allow expanding the maximum number of participants).

o Kid Dance Classes (offer more preschool classes, possibly in the morning hours).

o Tae Kwon Do (currently offered using Centennial Elementary School).

o Fun with Fitness - a class for preschool-aged children to teach the basics of exercise. (currently offered using Centennial Elementary School).

o Landscaping Water Coloring – (add more adult art classes, such as drawing, oil painting, etc.).

o Basic Guitar – (current location creates distraction for other classes being offered).

o Fencing – (currently being offered at First Baptist Church).

Based on our understanding of public interest and the types of classes that are successful in other communities, we would pursue the feasibility of adding these type classes and seminars at the Carnegie Community Center:

Preschool Tea Parties

Breakfast With The Experts – a senior adult program

Elementary Cheerleading

Resume Workshops

Interior Decorating

Nutrition Classes

Wedding Planning Seminars

Additional Dance Seminars/Classes

Parenting Classes

Music

Basic Car Maintenance

English As A Second Language

Wire Techniques (Electrical Wiring Classes)

Expansion of Kids Fight Back Safety Seminars

With the shift of classes from South Park Recreation Center, additional classes would also be offered in the space vacated. Classes to be added at South Park Recreation Center could include three levels of Spanish, landscaping and irrigation principles, additional workshops and seminars for adults, and enrichment classes and camps for children.  Additional classes/activities could be programmed by Prairie Park Nature Center, Special Populations and Special Events staff.  Additional revenue from classes and activities (minus the cost of instructors/staff) is estimated at $15,000.

To assist with the operation of the Carnegie Community Center, current staff at South Park Recreation Center would be relocated to the Carnegie Community Center as well as the enrollment/scheduling software to book events/programs and classes. There would be no additional expense to the LPRD budget to accommodate the scheduling software.

Financial Note

With the estimated $90,000 in additional revenue from public rental of the Carnegie Community Center and the expanded class/activity offerings, we anticipate annual costs for maintaining and operating the facility to be about $86,000 as per the attached estimate.  These costs do not include up front purchases of furnishings that may be needed (tables, chairs, etc.).