It’s been over 6 months since the indoor tennis center has opened, a place that has received $500,000.00 in tax dollars (not sure for what) and tried to get CVB monies for marketing. Isn’t it time the director of the facility, the mayor or his wife give us and update on how many people have used the facility, how many members are enrolled and if the place is in the black? I firmly believe if the place is flailing we should ask for our $500,000.00 back and use it on something else like para transit.
As you can see from the initial Argus story on the facility, it was pretty pie in the sky;
A consultant hired by the Sioux Falls Tennis Association has recommended charging $22 per hour to play at the seven-court Community Indoor Tennis Center. To be guaranteed court time, players would have to sign up for memberships that cost $30 a month per person or $50 for families; nonmembers would pay $10 per visit in addition to the court rental and could not reserve permanent court time.
As you can see from their current rate sheet, they are not quite meeting ALL of the fee goals;
Courts are available for rent on a daily basis, at a rate of $5/person/hour.
Five types of patron membership exist:
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Junior -Â An individual between the ages of 3 and 18; $20/month
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Senior – An individual 62 years of age & older; $20/month
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Individual – An individual 19 years of age & older; $30/month
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Dual – Two committed adults living at the same address OR a parent &Â one dependent child through the age of 24; $40/month
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Family – All members of one household including all dependent children through the age of 24; $50/month
As you continue reading though, you will see they tack on the extra fees as if you were getting a subprime credit card. Wonder where they cooked up those ideas?
I urge the city council to ask for a presentation on the status of the facility, and to also ask if other attendees can use their parking lot when they don’t have tournaments going on.
From the argus article about the ground breaking ceremony.
Mayor Mike Huether, whose family is the naming sponsor of the new $4 million building, said broad public access was the fundamental requirement to get the city to contribute $500,000 to the project. Citi Vice President of Public Affairs Jerry Nachtigal said that was also crucial for Citi to sign on as a major sponsor.
“We need to be sure the kids from the Y after school program, the Boys and Girls Clubs, have access to this facility,” Nachtigal said.
Huether said from the city’s perspective “this has got to take the word ‘public’ to an all new level.”
Really mmm? To an all new level? Does $29 an hour for court time sound like an all new “pubic” level?
Its even worse than that. They are now advertising $5.00 an hour for anyone to use the courts. They are that desperate. https://www.facebook.com/SFCITC/?fref=ts
I still shake my head that the council voted for the $500K sham.
What taxpayers need to be vigilant about is when the Council voted to appropriate public TAX dollars to two PRIVATE entities, the tennis and the hockey centers, they were very clear to both organizations…
Do NOT return at anytime in the future for additional tax funds.
In addition, the Council needs to make sure that if either of these centers fail that the City (taxpayers) do NOT take them over!
I’m not to worried about the Hockey center, I think they have enough diverse programs going on in the facility they can at least float. If anything, they will probably be expanding within the next decade.
As for the Tennis center, I assume it will become a part of Great Life within 4-5 years. Think we can finagle in a refund when they purchase the place?
I also believe if Huether doesn’t serve in another higher office after mayor, he will be long gone to a much warmer climate.
There’s no formal business plan. Considering the construction cost versus income, it’ll never pay for itself commercially. They can’t afford the property tax. The county will eventually do a sheriffs sale. It’ll be great as a hay barn or an indoor pot farm. Once again our businessman mayor shows he can cheat people with loan shark credit cards but has no business acumen whatsoever.
They will do the same thing as they did with Great Bear, buy it out, pay them a kings ransom, and screw the taxpayer. Nothing new here, same old bs. The rich get richer, the idiots keep voting for the rich, and for Shape Places, and little to no mass transit, we have a city full of idiots as long as the cell phones work, and snow plows with snow gates that won’t get used either. I’m missing something else too, oh yeah, wait til the Dakota Access pipeline gets installed, springs a leak and takes out our water supply, anybody been following that, our PUC said yes to it. Good God!
Something else of concern. The white ekephant, otherwise known ad the F35 fighter. It is a taxpayer sinkhole of the grandest nature, and will never perform as advertised. Like the too big to fail banks, this albatross is way too expensive to put in a combat situation. But it does win at one thing though. Noise levels. If you think its noisy at the Sanford sports complex now, wait til thing shows up. Those buildings in and around there will be rattled to the ground. All the property values in and around the airport bowl will plummet.
True about the F-35. Watch the EC siding fail.