Athletic Field Business Plan -DRAFT - …

1 Athletic Field Business plan - draft March 2016 Athletic Field Business plan | draft Report i Indy Parks and Recreation Athletic Field Business plan March 2016 Prepared by: Acknowledgements Indy Parks and Recreation Department Staff Athletic Fields ii Table of Contents CHAPTER ONE - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .. 1 INTRODUCTION ..1 PROJECT PROCESS ..1 KEY FINDINGS ..2 KEY OPERATIONAL SPORTS PRINCIPLES ..4 ACTION plan ..5 SITE SPECFIC RECOMMENDATIONS .. 10 12 CHAPTER TWO - MARKET 13 DEMOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS .. 13 TRENDS ANALYSIS.

2 19 SURVEY FINDINGS .. 23 FACILITY / AMENITY AND PROGRAM PRIORITY RANKINGS BY TOWNSHIP .. 38 COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS .. 41 CHAPTER THREE - OPERATIONAL STANDARDS .. 42 PROGRAM STRUCTURE OF SPORTS Field SITES .. 42 RECREATION PROGRAM STANDARDS .. 42 MARKETING plan .. 45 MAINTENANCE STANDARDS .. 50 CHAPTER FOUR - FINANCIAL REVIEW, SUSTAINABILITY, & STRATEGIES .. 55 FINANCIAL REVIEW OF Athletic FIELDS .. 55 FUNDING AND REVENUE STRATEGIES FOR Athletic FIELDS .. 59 FIVE YEAR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT plan .. 62 CHAPTER FIVE - IMPLEMENTATION plan .. 64 PERFORMANCE MEASURES.

3 64 ACTION plan .. 64 CHAPTER SIX - CONCLUSION .. 70 Athletic Field Business plan | draft Report Iii APPENDIX 1 QUALITY ASSURANCE FORMS .. 71 CONCESSIONS .. 71 QUALITY ASSURANCE CHECKLIST .. 74 CUSTOMER SERVICE QUALITY ASSURANCE CHECKLIST .. 75 APPENDIX 3 POLICY DEVELOPMENT .. 77 EARNED INCOME POLICY .. 77 PRICING POLICY .. 78 PARTNERSHIP POLICY .. 83 SPONSORSHIP POLICY .. 93 VOLUNTEER POLICY .. 96 SCHOLARSHIP POLICY .. 99 Athletic Field Business plan | draft Report 1 CHAPTER ONE - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY INTRODUCTI ON Indy Parks is committed to providing outstanding parks and sports fields for residents of Marion County.

4 The increasing demands for sports fields and decreasing revenues from the City s general fund for Indy Parks have made it a challenge to maintain the desired level of sports service offerings. Indy Parks staff feel they could enhance program opportunities if they could control all elements of sports services. Under the existing management model, Indy Parks staff do not maintain the fields they program or permit, but rely on the Department of Public Works to provide Field maintenance. Currently, the level of maintenance service has not met the needs of sports user groups who want to take advantage of Indy Parks programmed leagues or private groups that wish to reserve the sports fields, which has caused Indy Parks to lose a large share of the sport market.

5 Indy Parks recognizes it needed to evaluate their approach to managing and programming sports fields and undertook this assessment for their key sports complexes and sports related sites. Over the last two decades, Indy Parks has moved from a programming and a sport site management approach for youth and adults sports to a more limited role in sports programming at selected sites. Consequently, Indy Parks has moved to a sports Field facility provider and has allowed other sport groups, both for youth and adult, to program the sites through a permitted fee. This has resulted in a loss of sports related operational revenue for the park system.

6 The sports Field Business plan addresses the issues and provides recommendations on how to approach sports programming for the future. PROJECT PROCESS The process of developing this Business plan followed a logical planning path, as described below: Vision and Mission Once created, these elements provide a big picture view of the reason and purpose why the sports exists within Indy Parks. This serves as the lynchpin for communicating the rationale for existing and future parks that can support sports fields and the role Indy Parks plays in programming and managing these sites.

7 Demographic and Trend Analysis - The process was initiated through the collection and resulting assessment of Marion County demographics to aid the research team in understanding the age, ethnicity, race and economic characteristics of the residents in the Marion County region. Operational Philosophy and Process Current organization practices are understood through discussions with staff and an analysis of existing operational conditions. These findings are then melded with the adjustments to the current operational philosophy and new philosophical approaches required from the plan recommendations.

8 Vision and MissionDemographic & Trends AnalysisOperational Philosophy & ProcessCore Programs & FunctionsStandards & Policy DevlopmentBusiness & Operating PlanAthletic Fields 2 Core Programs and Functions - These studies were necessary to aid in the development of logical facilities and programs to fit into the portfolio of existing and future program recommendations in the Business plan . Standards and Policy Development A necessary element used to guide the Indy Parks Board and staff through the successful modification of operational practices. These standards are modified to fit the organizational structure and are drawn from best practices across the country from high performing organizations.

9 Business and Operating plan A document that reflects the five-year cost recovery approach desired from the Athletic facilities and operations recommended from the study. The intent of performing the Business plan is to evaluate all operating elements of the management of sports fields and to determine ways to operate sports fields owned by the City, as well as evaluate ways to generate additional operational revenues. The staff involved in this Business plan for sports fields worked very hard to provide the necessary information to assess the sports fields operations, which included their time to explain the reasons for the existing philosophy and the current approach to managing sports fields.

10 KEY FI NDINGS Organizational structure for sports fields is based on a regional philosophy versus a site manager philosophy. The staff prefer the older pervious management model where they can program and maintain their fields as one total service because the current maintenance service provided by DPW is difficult to control and causes great concern from staff in providing a service to users that they can count on. Currently, this finding is being addressed with the new leadership within Indy Parks and DPW. Pricing is the same for all fields for Professional, High School and College Teams; however, pricing varies by site for youth and adults teams based on location, quality of fields and demand.