CHAPTER NINE • SPACE USE RECOMMENDATIONS NAPERVILLE PARK DISTRICT INDOOR RECREATION SPACE NEEDS ASSESSMENT
FORT HILL ACTIVITY CENTER
The Fort Hill Activity Center demonstrates high usage throughout the facility year round. Most activity areas analyzed have usage at or well above the 70% benchmark including the gymnasium and group fitness studios. The volume of fitness center, track, and childcare visits have also significantly increased over the last few years. All of this adds up to the opinion that Fort Hill has extremely limited capacity to take on additional programming, accommodate casual visitors, and continue to grow its member base. For reasons explained in the previous section, high usage can be very taxing on the building systems and staff, leading to potentially negative experiences for members.
Naperville Park District - Fort Hill Activity Center
By itself, Fort Hill Activity Center cannot meet the current or growing demand for indoor recreation. The existing design and layout of the facility is optimal for its current use. It should be noted that Fort Hill is constrained by the limited space of the existing site. There are no major interior renovations that could provide additional capacity for one activity without the loss of capacity for another. RECOMMENDATIONS ɀ Through recent focus groups, the public at large and Fort Hill members expressed a need for more open gym programming. ȿ NPD can maximize time by creating organized open gym opportunities to keep pick-up games going and reduce waiting during peak times. ɀ The Barre Burn class appears to be in high demand among users and could be a future consideration for additional classes. National participation trends show that Barre has increased almost 22% over five years. The data also shows high demand in the community for Zumba, which also has strong participation growth nationwide at 17% over the last five years. ɀ Waitlist management is a priority for NPD for many programs, especially at Fort Hill. Some common best practices to effectively manage waitlists include: ȿ Increasing capacity for core services through hiring more staff, maximizing other underutilized indoor spaces, or purchasing additional specialized equipment to accommodate more participants. ȿ Regularly reviewing the schedule of programming to identify opportunities to offer more sessions at different times including evenings and weekends. ȿ Collaborating with other community centers, school facilities, or private organizations that could provide additional venues or resources to support the demand for these programs. ȿ Regularly surveying the community and facility users to help staff understand the specific needs and preferences of the various facility users. This can help guide the development of new programs or modifications to existing programs. ȿ Regularly taking inventory of all programming, analyzing performance metrics, and offloading underperforming programs and replacing them with other programs that are in high demand or that have high participation growth potential.
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