Manatee County Parks & Natural Resources John H. Marble Community Pool Revitalization & Marketing Plan Summer 2014 Submitted March 2014
Manatee County Parks & Natural Resources John H. Marble Community Pool Summer 2014 Revitalization & Marketing Plan Proposal Submitted March 2014 Introduction Program Title: Brief Description: Purpose: Summer 2014 Marketing Plan This packet includes the marketing plan for eastern Manatee County s John H. Marble Community Pool, a description of improvements/repairs needed at the site, information on a proposed signature event at the site, and samples of marketing materials for the location. The purpose of this plan is to identify and describe necessary repairs and improvements to, and introduce the residents and visitors of Manatee County, to our east County pool, the John H. Marble Community Pool. In recent years, the facility has been underused and underrepresented within the community, with very low attendance during its regular operating hours. Under the direction of the Board of County Commissioners, staff from the Aquatics and Volunteer & Education Division of the Parks and Natural Resources Department has developed a marketing plan to promote the pool and increase use. We also seek to establish the pool as a family-friendly local destination within the neighborhood. Facility & Revitalization Information Facility Description: John H. Marble Community Pool is a seasonal facility. The pool operates only during summer months, from late May through mid- August. Activities at this site include open recreational family swimming, preschool and youth swim lessons, and lap swimming. This facility is open to the public. The 25 m pool is not heated. It is 4 feet deep in the shallow end and 12 feet deep in the deep end. The pool can have up to 5 swim lanes installed. Other amenities at the park are: basketball courts, bocce ball courts, pavilion, a playground, a remote control race track, rest rooms, and tennis courts. Location: Fees: This aquatic facility is located at 3675 53 rd Avenue East, Bradenton. It is accessible directly from State Road 70 and is near several other County facilities including the Braden River Library. The current use fee is $1.88 (plus tax)
Proposed Date: The pool will be open on weekends only from May 17 th to June 8 th 2014.* After June 8 th, the pool will be open Tuesday through Sunday until August 15 th 2014. The pool will officially open for summer Tuesday June 10 th 2014 * To launch the official summer opening, we will host a free week from Tuesday June 10 th 2014 through Saturday June 14 th 2014 Duration: 14 weekends May 17 th to August 15 th 2014 10 full weeks from June 10 th to August 15 th Times: Attendance: Tuesday thru Sunday 11:00am to 4:00pm. There is no attendance cap for the pool. It is open daily, with paid daily fee. The pool will be available after hours for group rental and use as well as special event use. Staff Requirements: Staffing requirements for this facility include: 2 OPS Lifeguard staff or Combination of 1 Recreation Coordinator and 1 OPS Staff (NOTE: OPS staff could increase to 3 if pool attendance increases to beyond a 25:1 Ratio on a daily basis) Estimated staffing costs are based on summer OPS only staff. Weekends May 17 th to June 8 th 2 staff X 10.00 p/h X 6hrs each X 8 days=$960.00 Regular open hours 2 staff X 10.00 p/h X 36hrs each X 10 weeks=$7200.00 Total estimated staff costs: $8160.00 Activities: The John H. Marble Community hosts a variety of water based activities. Along with each of the County s pool facilities, this aquatic facility offers Family Recreational Swim. This open swim activity occurs when the pool lanes are taken down, or only one or two lanes are installed, and the rest of the pool is open for visitors to enjoy. Historically at facilities such as East Bradenton and G.T. Bray, recreational swim opportunities are very popular with groups during the summer months. We hope that by promoting this opportunity at Marble we will see an increase in group attendance to the pool. The pool can also be set up for lap swimming, with a maximum of 5 swim lanes installed. Lap swimming is lucrative to the area s local swim teams, including that based at Southeast High School, and has attracted users in the past who want to practice for swim meets and competitions. Lap swimming can occur as part of a pool rental, or lanes can be set up and the pool can be open to the public to allow for public use of the lanes. In addition to the school based
swim teams, there are also private swim coaches and groups who have utilized other facilities in the County. Several have given feedback that they would like to be able to use Marble for lap swimming and we hope that by expanding these offerings we may attract more use of the pool in this way. Both preschool and youth swim lessons have been offered at this site in the past. Swim lessons have been offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays in both the morning and late afternoon at this site. Water Exercise Classes such as aqua aerobics have also been offered at the site in the past. In order to provide more of a draw for pool users, we plan to offer additional programming and new offerings. Budget: The County has allotted a total of $42,000 for operating costs. This covers the cost of staffing, repairs, new purchases and equipment. Listed below is a basic proposed list of equipment to enhance the community and family experience at the pool. Starting allotted budget: $42,000.00 Expense: Staffing: $8,160.00 Expense: Proposed new equip. $16,235.00 Expense: Pool Chemicals $7,000.00 Total Estimated Cost of Re-vitalization: $31,395.00 Balance available for repairs/improvements to facility $10,605.00 Proposed New Equipment for John H. Marble Re-Vitalization Item Quantity Cost Per Total Cost 16ft port. Rock wall 1 $8,358.00 $8,358 Storage Shed 1 $3,000.00 $3,000.00 deck chairs (lounge) 10 $100.00 $1,000.00 deck Chairs (regular) 10 $85.00 $850.00 25M Lane Line 2 $400.00 $800.00 6 piece patio set 2 $300.00 $600.00 Swim lesson supplies $400.00 $400.00 Free Standing shade umbrella 1 $400.00 $400.00 Storage bench 1 $300.00 $300.00 assorted inflatable games $200.00 $200.00 Jr. basketball hoop 1 $175.00 $175.00 Noodle storage bin 1 $60.00 $60.00 Noodles (set of 20) 1 $62.00 $62.00 pump 1 $30.00 $30.00 $16,235.00
Discussion of Expenses: After an extensive survey and review by staff, which included polling citizens and user groups such as swim team coaches, we have determined that this aquatics facility is in need of both repairs and upgrades. These updates are necessary in order to not only maintain the safety and health of the site, but also to create a more attractive location for users. The expenses listed on the previous page include both consumables, such as swim lesson supplies, as well as reusable such as free standing shade umbrellas and regular deck chairs. We are also requesting new replacement sets of items such as lane lines in order to update old, worn, unsafe equipment. The largest proposed expense is for a new feature for this facility. In order to attract more visitors, we propose the purchase and installation of a 16 foot portable rock climbing wall. These types of features are hugely popular in the aquatics field, and have proven to be attractive to users of all ages. One of the benefits of purchasing this item would be that it is removable, and could be utilized at other locations such as East Bradenton Pool and G.T. Bray Aquatics Facility, maximizing its use and potential to attract pool users. Marketing & Promotion: Promotions: Staff has suggested offering a preview of the site to encourage people to come and see the new changes at the pool. We propose using the week before the official event on Saturday June 14 th as a free preview week. Each day during this week leading up to the signature event, as well as on that date itself, the pool would be free for use. We also propose an additional free weekend (Saturday and Sunday) in July. In order to tie this in to the community, we will suggest that people bring in either one (or more) canned food item per person as payment for visiting. All food collected will be donated to the local food bank, providing an additional tie in to the community for pool visitors. Signature Event: In order to bring the concept of John H. Marble as a community pool and, indeed, a family-friendly resource for the local area, staff would like to suggest the creation of a signature event for the site. To serve as a grand re-opening, we propose the creation of the Splash into Summer event. This event would take place on the first official weekend of summer, Saturday June 14 th (after several soft opening weekends in May) and would be at the conclusion of the previously mentioned free week. The event would include a variety of family friendly water-based activities as well as the unveiling of the new rock climbing wall. We would also provide free
food and have special guests such as musicians and display vendors. We hope to re-vitalize the site, attract attention, and secure the idea of Marble being an exciting place to visit. For more information about this proposed event, please see Attachment 1: Splash Into Summer Event Plan On Site Advertising: After speaking with pool visitors, we have identified the need to announce when the pool is open as many people expressed that they did not realize it was still open for use. We propose the installation of a large banner in front of the pool running along State Road 70. The banner would not have any set dates on it so that it could be reused each year. Installation of the banner would occur in early April to promote the pool s weekend openings in May. The banner design will be done in house in order to save art design costs. Social Media: Press Release: The Parks and Natural Resources Department maintains a total of seven Facebook pages, including one page each for Recreation and one for Natural Resources. Since these two pages cannot be merged (as per Facebook s rules and conditions), we plan to use this to our advantage, cross posting information about the pool and the planned activities to each page. We will also seek assistance from our various partners and request their help sharing the information about Marble on their pages as well. Our goal is to post at least two dynamic targeted posts per month from April through to the end of summer. Staff will prepare press releases for the pool s revitalization and reopening, the signature event, and later in the summer the additional free weekends. These will be sent out through the Convention and Visitor s Bureau s press release list. We will also request that the County s Public Information Officer assist and send out the release. Marketing Timeline: The following timeline is proposed for the marketing activities previously described: March: April: Create revitalization and marketing plan with draft of potential new equipment purchases and summer calendar of events including any special events Create master summer calendar of events Design and print new outdoor banner for pool Create signature event plan Begin social media campaign promoting opening of pool
Hang and install roadside promotional banner at pool Purchase approved high dollar items and install at facility as necessary Contact any donors and vendors for the signature event Create list of invites and special invitation for the signature event Order any give away items for special event Update County website and Inet with information about the pool revitalization and signature event May: Continue social media campaign Promote signature event and Marble Pool activities in monthly Parks Newsletter Make direct contact with local businesses around facility to offer partnership opportunities and request support such as posting fliers for the pool Create flier with pool and event information Distribute flier to Braden River Library and other local sites such as Jiggs Landing kiosk, G.T. Bray slideshow, etc. Focus on facility clean-up to prepare for weekend openings Distribute flier to local schools as a take home with our students June Continue social media campaign Run information for the upcoming summer months in monthly Parks newsletter Press release for signature event approximately two weeks before event Prepare for facility opening, free week, and grand re-opening signature event
John H. Marble Community Pool
John H. Marble Park Facilities playground and pavilion
Sample layout for proposed banner at pool site Example of Pool Rock Climbing Walls Both were priced for the purposes of this presentation