Romtec designs, supplies, and constructs buildings and structures for all types of parks and other recreation applications. Water features in parks like community pools and splash pads are growing in popularity and make an entertaining addition to any public park. Although water features are typically only open seasonally, the benefits they offer and revenue they generate can be more than enough to keep them in operation.
The Challenges of Developing a Community Pool or Splash Pad
One of the challenges of developing a new pool or splash pad is the need for restrooms, showers, and pump houses to meet health code requirements and house the equipment needed to run the park. Installing 2 or more separate buildings can be an expensive endeavor, especially when developing a new park from the ground up. Choosing a flexible design-build firm with the ability to include all necessary facilities and equipment into a single building is a great asset for your project and will save space, time, and money.
The Benefits of a Community Pool or Aquatic Facility
Everyone loves jumping into the water on a hot, summer day. It is no surprise that aquatics features are frequently requested by communities in polls for new park features. Implementing these features into a new or existing park can be a challenge to even the most experienced parks and recreation departments, but the quality of life improvements to the community are well worth the effort. One of the most important aspects of public pools is that they provide everyone in the community with an affordable way to beat the summer heat. Modern pools and splash pads are even designed for accessibility through sloped-beach pool entrances, anti-slip coatings on walkways, and ADA compliant water fixtures. Community pools do not only benefit the community they serve, operators of the pools can establish a revenue generation plan using the pool as an asset.
The most successful aquatics programs in the nation balance their pool time between open swims and scheduled classes or activities to produce revenue. Money generated by the pool can help to cover the operating costs and in some applications even make a profit. Buildings surrounding the pool can be used to host classes with spaces dedicated to classrooms. What classes you offer should be tailored to the needs of the community and offer activities for swimmers of all skill levels. Additionally, renting swim lanes to local high schools or swim clubs can also help to supplement income. Generating revenue is a great way to cover operational costs for pools, but combining facilities together during the initial construction can save large sums of money.
Creating Custom Designs from Romtec’s Standard Building Models
Romtec excels in designing unique buildings for nearly any application. Our dedicated team of engineers can take any of our existing building models and reconfigure them with only the features you need by including concession spaces, locker rooms, and even staff offices when necessary. Recently, Romtec has supplied several buildings for community pool projects that were designed according to their projects specific needs. These projects shared some commonalities and required some of the same building features. Using one of our standard concession models, the large open rooms were converted into a lifeguard room and ticket office that monitors the entrance of these pools. Pumping equipment with chemical testing and filtering systems can also be integrated into your buildings design and placed into a staff-accessible room. The rest of these buildings are typically reserved to restrooms, locker rooms, and storage space, but any features that are needed can easily be added.
Public water features bring communities closer together and contribute to an improved quality of life. Parks and recreation departments are serving their community when they include these elements into their parks. Developing and implementing a program schedule for how the pools are used will help to generate revenue to cover the operational costs. Partnering with an experienced provider of buildings specialized for these applications, like Romtec, offers a number of benefits to parks and recreation departments. Regardless of what type of water feature you need, Romtec can help by providing the design, supply, and installation of an aquatic building!
