Arlington County, VA
Community Recreation Programming
In August 2002, Brailsford & Dunlavey began work on developing a master plan for a new park in Arlington County, Virginia, that would become the County's largest contiguous park. Adding to the significance of the site was is its adjacency to Ronald Regan Washington National Airport, the Pentagon, and the Potomac River, as well as views of the monumental core of the District of Columbia. Unique challenges for this park master plan included its relative inaccessibility due to the surrounding transportation easements, height limitations over a significant portion of the site dictated by the Federal Aviation Authority, and environmental concerns related to protecting the Roaches' Run waterfowl preserve and Potomac River outlet, as well as mitigating the issues related to known pollutants from industrial developments on a large part of the site. The park also had the potential to host major events, provide significant field space for the County's many organized sports leagues, be the site for a needed indoor aquatics facility, and offer a large expanse of open and unprogrammed green space. The planning process incorporated the "Arlington Way" of public involvement, the creation of a citizens' task force supported by County personnel, open public meetings, and formal and informal community input processes to develop a master plan for this significant park that would balance the competing demands of the wide range of potential uses.
As part of a team led by
Lewis Scully Gionet, B&D's primary
responsibility was to program an appropriate
indoor facility for the North Tract park master
plan. B&D's tasks included conducting a
market analysis for a potential indoor aquatic
and recreation facility, developing an outline
architectural program, generating an integrated
model for development and operational finances,
and helping to identify and evaluate potential
partnership opportunities for the development
and operations of an indoor recreation
center.
The master plan was approved by the County Board of Commissioners in the spring of 2004. The plan for the indoor facility included a competitive aquatic center with a 50-meter competition pool with a separate dive tank and warm-up/leisure pool, a warm-water therapy pool, a large weight and fitness center, multipurpose fitness classrooms, a wellness center, community meeting rooms, and administrative and support spaces. A future phase would include a three-court gymnasium / field house.
After the approval of the master plan, B&D was retained by the County later in 2004 to conduct a more detailed market analysis incorporating more community input from focus groups and surveys to develop a detailed program of architectural requirements for the indoor facility. The detailed program document was completed in March 2005 and served as the basis for the architectural design of the site and the indoor facility.
As the architectural design phase was initiated, B&D was contracted by the County again in March 2006, this time to prepare a detailed business plan for the operations of the park and the indoor recreation center. This business plan included pricing and fee structures, operating projections and targets, marketing plans, and a detailed investigation of appropriate partnership and ancillary retail/tenant opportunities. The goal of the County Board and the Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources was to provide a "world class" park and indoor facility that will be accessible to all Arlington residents and will generate sufficient revenues to cover all operating costs. Research and consensus-building on operating strategies also was conducted, and the documentation of the business plan commenced as decisions on the design and operating parameters were made.
Following this effort, a series of events occurred that impacted the economics associated with the project’s development. These circumstances created both challenges and opportunities with respect to examining the best option for the facility from a programming standpoint. Working with the County once again in 2009, B&D developed a comprehensive financial model that compared the fiscal impact associated with varying program scenarios. In total, five program options were developed, using the original outline program crafted in 2004 as the base. Each subsequent program varied with respect to specific elements within the facility that focused on different market opportunities. Although the components within each option varied, the core components, total size of the facility (92,000 square feet), and total project costs ($41 million) were consistent to fit estimates established through previous efforts. In order to create a more financially sustainable model, B&D’s goal for this analysis was to understand the programmatic opportunities that existed within the facility which maximized revenue.