Swim center finances get more scrutiny
GREENSBORO — The swimming pool business is pricey.
Local officials say that an $18.3 million competitive aquatics center could pay off with tourism dollars, but residents — and some elected leaders — remain skeptical.
On Monday, the newly elected City Council members will learn the full details of the proposed swim facility at the Greensboro Coliseum.
They likely will hear that the facility could lose $195,000 a year. They also will hear that one prediction of its economic impact — totaling $14.5 million annually — is based on a hypothetical schedule that would require the new center to draw a major, national swim meet.
“This is economic development,” said Richard Beard , a member of the War Memorial Commission, a council advisory board that voted Thursday to give its support to the aquatics center. “It’s important to our economy. I am frustrated they would even debate it.”
Here’s the rub:
In 2008, the City Council agreed to set aside $12 million in a $20 million parks and recreation bond for a swimming pool.
Eighteen months later, that afterthought addition to the parks bond has morphed into an $18.3 million, three-pool Greensboro Coliseum swim center designed to rival regional facilities and pools, such as the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center, that host major international sporting events .
Greensboro’s tourism gurus, who have seen the convention business erode in the economic downturn, are eager to add another facility to their cadre of sports centers that lure people to the city.
Yet others, including Councilwoman Trudy Wade , have questioned the hypothetical one-year event schedule used to estimate that the facility could have a multimillion-dollar economic impact.
Henri Fourrier, president of the Greensboro Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, stands behind the economic impact estimate, which was developed by a professional sports organizer.
“There are groups out there that are hungry, looking for venues to compete in,” Fourrier said. “The majority of venues out there are owned by universities. Not all universities are open to having their pools open to private meets.”
But what about residents, some city leaders have asked, whose tax dollars will be used to run the center and pay for part of the construction costs?
Last week, City Manager Rashad Young gave council members estimates of the annual expenses and revenues the Coliseum staff expects to see from the aquatics complex.
The center would earn an estimated $500,000 annually from club swimming, lesson fees and other revenue.
The largest portions of the revenue — $105,000 and $120,000 — would come from meets and yearly memberships at $400 apiece, according to the city’s estimate, which was based on financial information from three North Carolina pools.
The aquatics center would require only two, new full-time city employees and some part-time staff, Coliseum Director Matt Brown said.
Other responsibilities, including housekeeping, parking, security and event operations, would be covered by existing Coliseum staff — a cost savings the city would not see if the facility was run as a standalone Parks and Recreation pool. “This is the benefit of having it at the Coliseum,” Brown said.
Brown said it might be possible to pay for the operation of the aquatics center out of the $1.8 million the Coliseum currently receives from the city for Coliseum expenses.
Contact Amanda Lehmert at 373-7075 or amanda.lehmert@news-record.com
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