October 2017 - Parks & Recreation - 45

gymnasium, and reinforcing the city's
longstanding commitment to community sports, recreation and wellness. The
facility broke ground in October 2016
and, along with two gyms and a twopool natatorium, will boast an elevated
walking track, multiple workout spaces and classrooms, two birthday party
rooms (one of them another late addition) and several other amenities.
For recreation professionals seeking to
provide social equity, one of the biggest
challenges in their work is establishing
financial self-sufficiency. To that end, the
city and BSW engaged St. Louis-based
Counsilman-Hunsaker early in the planning and design process to develop a dynamic business model that would provide
membership fee/cost recovery options.
The team analyzed community needs,
capital costs and operational expenses
through a public process involving many
stakeholders. Design options, along with
their consequential operational models,
were subsequently developed and reviewed until a project scope with a clear
cost-recovery goal was agreed upon. After
significant discussion, the New Braunfels
City Council approved a fee schedule that
projected a cost recovery of 85 percent.
Then, about midway through the design
phase, city officials revisited the topic
to incorporate the new additions cited
above. As the project ultimately grew in
scope and funding, the operational model
was updated and now boasts a projected
cost recovery of 90 percent - higher than
most other public recreation facilities of
comparable size and programming.
Social Equity at Work
The new facility will be located on Landa
Street, a major thoroughfare in the community, not far from a new city hall building. It will act as a redevelopment catalyst
for city-owned land, left mostly vacant for
years after a Handy Andy Supermarket
and strip mall burned down. The addition
of the recreation center is expected to increase traffic in the area, making nearby

commercial property more valuable and
attractive to developers.
With assistance from the Alamo Area
Metropolitan Planning Organization,
new sidewalks have been constructed
along Landa Street that connect the Walnut Avenue pedestrian trail to the site of
the new recreation facility and to Landa Park and beyond. Landa Park, at 51
acres, is the crown jewel in the city's park
system and incorporates the William
and Dolores Schumann Arboretum and
Panther Canyon Nature Trail.
By converting this section of New
Braunfels into a recreation gateway, officials are sending a message to all city residents that everybody not only deserves
such opportunities but also needs them
to achieve a more balanced lifestyle.
It's tough to argue that New Braunfels
didn't need a recreation reboot. Although
the city operates a thriving outdoor
aquatic complex with an Olympic-size

competition pool, spring-fed recreation
pool and zero-depth-entry children's
pool, the existing recreation center needs
some updating to better serve residents. It
is housed inside a former warehouse that
was built in the late 19th century, and its
shortcomings include the lack of a regulation-size gymnasium and no access to
the upstairs for people with disabilities
- thus limiting not only programming
options but also who can participate in
those programs.
With this new facility, all of that is
about to change and it is expected to spur
redevelopment in the area, helping New
Braunfels to maintain its position as a
fast-evolving, action-oriented and socially responsible community.
Stacey Laird Dicke is the Parks and Recreation
Director for the City of New Braunfels (sdicke@
nbtexas.org). Stephen Springs, AIA, is a Senior
Principal at Brinkley Sargent Wiginton Architects
(ssprings@bsw-architects.com).

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October 2017 - Parks & Recreation

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