Ice skating rinks, football fields, running tracks and weight rooms; would you believe that they could all live beneath one roof in perfect harmony?
Multipurpose facilities and projects tend to get a bad wrap. I’ve heard folks oppose the idea of building a one-facility-fits-all because of the misconstrued notion that with a multipurpose you sacrifice on quality--This is simply not true; a quality, flexible and well-designed multipurpose facility can serve as a source of pride and prominent beacon of the community.
Here are five reasons you should consider a multipurpose facility in your community.
1. Development Cost Savings
Yes, that’s right SAVINGS. By building a multipurpose facility there comes a significant amount of infrastructure savings in the long run. You are able to get more use out of the utilities in your building, and it’s all housed under one shared location instead of being distributed into multiple facilities and often times multiple locations. Parking spaces, bathrooms, event rooms—all of that can be maximized throughout the course of a year rather than just one primary use during the “in-season” activity.
Plus, consider the cost per square foot. The cost per square-foot naturally goes down on one full facility, and you automatically get more bang per your buck with a larger multipurpose facility versus individual smaller facilities that are home to just one rink/court/field etc.
2. Operational Cost Savings
We’re not done saving you a buck or two. Energy savings cannot be understated or undervalued in the benefits of multipurpose facilities. You’re using one central heating/cooling plant to serve the larger building instead of multiple in individual buildings. You’re saving on staff costs for the same reason.
Plus, multipurpose facilities lend themselves to easy partnerships with the city and local school districts. Schools can utilize any of the multipurpose offerings during the weekdays with availability for community use in the evenings and on weekends.
3. Shared Revenue
Now that we’ve saved you some coin, let’s make some. There’s no question that certain programs are so specific to certain groups. Hockey season can be brief, and one singular ice arena can find a lot of deadtime between May and August. By offering additional surfaces, not only are you able to provide user groups options for in-season (i.e. off-ice training) but you can almost guarantee your facility is functional year-round.
Some other ways to increase your use of the space, and drive revenue can include:
- League Play: Offer adult soccer leagues and box lacrosse (just to name a few). Give them a place to play during the week. Include an option for tournaments on the weekend where out-of-town teams can see what your facility has to offer (and they can go back home and brag about the HTG-built multipurpose building they were in).
- Lease Space: Concessions, pro shops, physical therapy rooms; all of these offerings can help offset costs while providing unique services to your tenants.
4. Multi-Generational Programming
Don’t forget to appeal to ALL of your community with programming that fits the bill of everyone. Multipurpose facilities have the space to ensure that every infant, toddler, boomer and senior can find what’s right for them.
Utilize court space with pickelball, dance, aerobics (bonus points if your multipurpose facility includes a pool where water aerobics can be another programming option). Turn the field into a place for cheer teams to practice their flips. Add broomball or curling into your ice programming on top of hockey and figure skating.
Don’t forget to have a couple of meeting rooms in your facility as well to allow community members a space for classes, club meetings, presentations or birthday parties.
The options are endless in a multipurpose facility.
5. Better Experience
By sharing costs you can give more of a “country club” experience. There’s something for everyone to do and something for everyone to use at a facility. While a daughter is out on the ice for hockey practice and a son is shooting hoops in the gym, a parent can be working out with a personal training, all while the youngest daughter is in a Girl Scout meeting plotting cookie sales for the year.
Multipurpose facilities promote a healthier lifestyle for the entire family, with a focus on all-around wellness, ultimately lending itself to better weight management and nutrition in your community.
So what are you waiting for? Let’s talk about a multipurpose facility in your community.
