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Denver's rec center system is broken; bigger and fewer would be better

Friday, October 12 at 12:00 AM

By Michael Stretchberry, Denver

Vincent Carroll’s recent column “Doors half closed” (On Point, Oct. 2) is right on. Denver’s rec centers provide a very limited service. Not only are the center hours slim, but also the services offered are slim. And often I cannot rely on the services available on days and times as listed in the rec center catalog.

I use the Denver rec centers for aerobics fitness classes and the weight room. The weight rooms vary from crowded but good at Washington Park to limited at other rec centers. But most of my frustration is not being certain I can get a quality aerobics class at the rec centers. I have lived close to the Washington Park center since 1986 but have never thought the aerobics classes were worth using.

They were not the quality I expected. So, I go to other rec centers close by but get disappointed all too often when the normal aerobics instructor doesn’t show or can’t make it. Substitutes are evidently not available. The Cook Park center does a good, consistent job.

Compare the Denver rec centers with the South Suburban Parks and Recreation system. Wow! They know how to offer rec services, and they have won awards for their rec centers. They are always open, even most holidays. And the hours are great; Saturday and Sunday when families want to use them, they are available all day! I don’t know of any Denver rec center open on Sunday near me, and on Saturday the services and hours are so limited as to be useless to me.

If the Denver rec centers want to save money, why not just close them all day, every day? Of course, that is not what should happen. For the past few years, I thought the problem was that prices were too low and the rec centers could not afford to offer decent services. I always thought this was a “welfare” mentality. But prices have gone up recently and I think that is very appropriate. However, quality still lags, and new and attractive services have not been added.

I have come to the conclusion recently that the organization of the rec centers is wrong. There are too many centers, and they are too small. Therefore, they don’t have the capability to offer a wide variety of services throughout the day. No wonder the traffic to the centers is slim. The South Suburban system has just a few centers, but they are big and can offer many rec opportunities for all ages.

That brings in lots of people, and the centers can be run efficiently.

Denver needs to close down most of the small centers and make bigger regional centers with full services offered. An indoor pool with kiddie areas as well as adult areas would be great. I don’t know of any Denver center with this. Racquetball courts would be great. Today’s small centers don’t and can’t offer either pools or racquetball courts. So, why come to the Denver rec centers? There is nothing to do.

The situation is a downward spiral: There are few reasons to go to a rec center, so few show up. The hours are cut to save money. Then, fewer people can come to the center, and fewer services are offered in those limited hours. The centers don’t take in enough money to operate with quality, so hours are cut to save money. You see the point.

Something drastic has to happen. The current system is not working. Consider other ways of doing business: fewer but bigger centers? Add services like those mentioned above in affluent areas and charge more for those services? But don’t shut down each rec center for a week each year to clean them, as is the practice now. That is ridiculous; a sure way to lose clients. South Suburban never closes.

Think outside the box.

Michael Stretchberry is a resident of Denver.

READER COMMENTS

I have been a member of the Denver rec centers for the past 27 years, and this article is right on.
Out of all the rec centers in the Denver area, there are only a handful that are worth going to and becoming a member of.
The services offered is way too limited.
The Denver rec centers could learn and take a lesson from the central YMCA in Denver.
They have 3 weight rooms, two pools, a couple of racquet ball courts, an aerobics room and many other services that the Denver rec centers don't offer.
Also, the hours of the Denver rec centers are certainly not geared towards families or single people who want to use them.
A good example of this would be the 20th street rec center which is only open for 2 hours on Saturday and closed on Sundays.
The washington rec center is only open for 4 hours on Sundays and has very limited hours on Saturday.
By the time people are home from church the rec centers are already closed.
Denver rec centers are certainly not family friendly, or family oriented.
Fewer centers and bigger centers would be a gret start to solving the problems. Also, the rec centers should double and even triple the services they offer, then they would start showing a profit and many more people would come to the centers.
But getting Denver to spend money on something that is family friendly and family orented is like pulling teeth from a duck.

Posted by J W on October 16, 2007 10:30 AM

Stretch a little Michael, Valverde has yet to get their first rec. center. Why don't you run around the lake instead of crying to be pampered.

Posted by eyeswideopen on October 14, 2007 10:22 AM