Vandalia
1111 Stonequarry Road
Annual cost: $499 resident family, $656 non-resident family, lower fees for dual and single memberships and drop-ins.
Kettering
2900 Glengarry Drive
Annual cost: $340 family of 3 Kettering resident, $508 non-resident; several opltions available.
Dayton
Lohrey Recreation Center and Belmont Indoor Pool
2366 Glenarm Ave.
Northwest Recreation Center and Dabney Indoor Pool
1600 Princeton Drive
Greater Dayton Recreation Center and Family Aquatic Center at Roosevelt Commons
2021 W. Third
Annual cost: $70 per person for use at all three centers.
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP
8200 McEwen Road
Annual cost: $290 complete family resident pass.
MORAINE
Payne Recreation Center, 3,800 Main St.
Annual cost: $150 family of 4, $250 family of 4 non-resident.
OAKWOOD
105 Patterson Blvd.
Annual cost: Community center only, $110 family, Oakwood resident only; Health club non-resident, family, $200; pool family, $185 Oakwood resident, $290 non-resident.
Five area cities and a township that operate tax-subdized recreation centers say they do so because they help attract new businesses and provide an amenity residents want.
Vandalia’s 50,000-square-foot rec center generated about $1.2 million in revenue last year, but cost $1.5 million to operate, with the city making up the difference.But City Manager Rob Anderson said every time he shows potential employers around the city, he stops by the rec center and shows them inside.
“They say, ‘Wow,’” Anderson said.
In 2001, the city passed a levy to build its $10 million building, which now averages 1,000 visitors a day, according to Steve Clark, the city’s director of parks and recreation. “We have 4,000 members. I’d like to say residents who don’t use it see it as a benefit. It can help economic growth. I’ve had very few people say we’re a non-necessity.”
Vandalia first tried to lure private companies to build the center, then looked to the YMCA. Doing it as a city-owned civic center seemed to work.
“We wanted something that was close, convenient and had a feel it was ours,” said Mayor Arlene Setzer, then a council member. “When you see 1,000 people a day using it, that’s a pretty good (indicator) that it has support.”
Other municipal rec centers are in Dayton, which has three; Kettering, which has the largest at 150,000 square feet; and Moraine, Oakwood and Washington Township.
All have some kind of support from tax money, with Dayton recovering only about 15 percent of its costs through memberships and fees. Kettering covers about 60 percent of its center’s $4 million annual budget; Washington Township, about the same amount of its center’s $2.4 million budget; Moraine, about 45 percent of its center’s $500,000 budget; and Oakwood, which covers close to 70 percent of its center’s $900,000 budget.
The city of Dayton’s rec center budget was sliced in half from $6 million as several neighborhood recreation centers were closed over a six-year period ending in 2010. The city now operates the new Roosevelt Commons, an $8 million building on the grounds of the former Roosevelt high school, and the remodeled Lohrey Rec Center and Northwest Rec Center.
Other parts of the Dayton area are served by a series of satellite YMCA buildings (some in conjunction with the cities they serve), the Ray and Joan Kroc Salvation Army Center on the near north side, as well as private clubs and fitness facilities.
The municipal rec centers have become multiple destination sites with workout rooms, basketball games, running tracks, swimming pools, seniors, day-care centers and party rooms. Vandalia and Kettering have climbing walls. There are places just to gather and watch television with friends.
“Going in, council knew this was something that wasn’t going to make a lot of money,” Vandalia City Manager Rob Anderson said, “but they wanted the amenity.”
Kettering joined the fitness boom early, opening its rec center in 1972 and the ice rink the next year. It was renovated beginning in 1988 for $10.7 million.
“It gets to quality of life issues,” said William Tschirhart, the business services manager. “We create spaces and places for people to have fun. It’s for health. The first time someone comes here it may be because a doctor told them to lose weight. Parks, recreation and cultural activities are the reason people come here.”
The Kettering rec center recorded 981,121 visits last year. Dayton’s three rec centers - which opened in 2010 - draw about 400,000 a year.
“When you have an economically and sometimes socially disadvantaged citizenship, when you say, ‘gym membership,’ that’s not something that’s going to replace bread, butter, milk and eggs,” said Dayton Recreation Director C. LaShea Smith. “When businesses look to relocate, they look for amenities for their employees they can afford. Our mission is to build community togetherness.”
Even with fewer facilities, Dayton has seen an increase in visitors, officials said.
In Moraine, a city of 6,000, the rec center is more than just a place to work out.
“It’s a community gathering spot,” rec center director Dave Miller said. “We don’t exactly have a downtown meeting spot here. We’ve become a social destination.
“We don’t see families being able to afford big vacations,” Miller said. “This may be less expensive than a private club and we have more program than they have at a health club, and at an affordable rate.”
Washington Township, which surrounds most of the city of Centerville, originally had a YMCA operate out of what is now a 50,000-square-foot recreation center next to another 29,000-square-foot building called Rec West. It’s all subsidized by an 0.7 mills levy, that’s renewable every five years and generates more than $950,000.
The original building was only 18,000 square feet, had no swimming pool, and the Y didn’t have enough funds at the time to operate it.
Residents told the township they did not want another restaurant or car dealership to go into the space, and the council put a 1.5 mill levy on the ballot in 1988 that passed.
Likewise, Oakwood took over a YMCA property in disrepair that originally was built as the East Oakwood Club in 1922.
“The city got into the parks and recreation business,” said Carol Collins, director of parks. “Before we had this department, we had only a horticulture department. The department of leisure services was started in 1987.”
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