Comparison report shows aquatic center proposed budget in line with others

A survey of comparable aquatic centers around the state indicates that the Columbus Aquatic Center’s proposed budget of $1.2 million would be in line with others.

The local center, which has been budgeted at $825,000 a year since it opened almost two years ago, is supposed to be hiked to $1.2 million in Mayor Teresa Tomlinson’s proposed fiscal 2017 budget, which is scheduled to be delivered to Columbus Council on April 26.

The $1.2 million budget is what Parks and Recreation Director James Worsley has been saying it should be since before the center opened, and is what a private contractor bid to manage the facility and keep it open for the 89 hours a week that its patrons are used to.

In addition to the comparable numbers in the city’s report to council, it was revealed that all the other comparable aquatic centers were managed by the local government, not private pool management companies.

Mayor Teresa Tomlinson, speaking after the Columbus Council work session Tuesday, at which the report was given, said it bolstered what she had suspected about the real cost of running the facility.

“It seems like again, that we have further substantiation that if you’re going to run a facility in the high 70s to high 80s (hours a week), then you’re looking at budget of a million dollars or more,” Tomlinson said.

All five of the comparable centers have a full 50-meter by 25-yard competition pool and a separate pool for either physical therapy, lessons or diving. The others operate between 72 and 88.5 hours, except Georgia Tech’s, which is open for 155 hours a week. Their budgets range from $1 million to $1.4 million, according to the report.

The Cherokee County Aquatics Center is open for 88.5 hours a week with a budget of $1.15 and is operated by the county.

The Cumming Aquatic Center operates for 92 hours a week with a budget of $1.4 million, and is operated by the city.

The Frances Meadows Aquatic Center in Gainesville, Ga., is open for 74 hours a week with a budget of $1.3 million and is operated by the city.

The Savannah-Chatham County Aquatics Center operates for 83 hours a week with a budget of $1.05 million and is operated by the county.

Georgia Tech’s aquatic center has a similar pool setup, but with a diving pool instead of a therapy pool. Its $1 million budget does not include infrastructure or utilities. It is run by Tech and is open for 155 hours a week, seven days a week from 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Tomlinson said she was surprised to learn that all the other comparable centers were run by local governments and not private companies.

“That brings up two issues. I now no longer think it is accurate to say that you need a third party vendor to run an aquatic center such as the one we have,” Tomlinson said. “It looks like you can go out and hire somebody with particular expertise and run it within your parks and rec.”

Council also heard a comprehensive report on different ideas of how to get funding to increase the aquatic center budget, but took no action.

This story was originally published March 29, 2016 at 2:52 PM with the headline "Comparison report shows aquatic center proposed budget in line with others."