NEEDS ASSESSMENT

The goal of this section is to assess the facility needs of Plano in comparison to other cities. This allows city staff to determine if they provide facilities to the level provided by their peers. It also helps the city to make informed decisions on the optimal set of service and facility offerings based upon this comparative analysis.

DEMAND-BASED APPROACH

In addition to the public input and survey results discussed in the citizen input section, staff input is very critical to determine demand for facilities since they are the ones interacting with facility users on a daily basis. According to parks and recreation staff, the most critical recreation and aquatics needs include:

• Additional adult court space: Within the existing recreation centers, gymnasiums are multi-purpose to be used for a variety of sports. In recent years, the City has experienced a significant increase in demand for open, drop-in play for sports such as pickleball, badminton, table tennis, and volleyball. This has impacted members' ability to use gymnasium courts for traditional basketball drop-in play. The City should fully evaluate the demand for court space and respond accordingly.

• Defining and addressing senior programming needs: This master plan update identified a demand for an additional Senior Center on the west side of the city.

• Additional pool lap lanes: Conduct a study to evaluate current pool allocations and update to accommodate current and future needs.

• Additional programming space: Demand has exceeded capacity at many of the facilities for programming and classroom space.