Rec centers and the Beach's fitness

For years, Virginia Beach has relied on population growth and increases in the tax base to provide residents with services and amenities not necessarily offered by its neighbors. For the bargain price of $55 a year, for example, residents have been able to swim, lift weights and work out at one of six city recreation centers.

But as The Pilot's Richard Quinn reported Monday, the centers cost nearly $20 million a year to run; they need renovations and new equipment; and fewer people are using them. So despite plans to build a seventh recreation center in western Bayside for the Lake Edward neighborhood, Virginia Beach cannot afford $30 million more for another facility in the face of a shaky economy and declining memberships.

It needs to look at the bigger issue: whether it makes sense for the city to continue competing with private health clubs, and whether it's appropriate to subsidize a nonprofit organization to build a fitness center such as the one YMCA is proposing for the Sentara Princess Anne campus.

City records show that operating costs at the city's recreation centers rose 42 percent between fiscal years 2003 and 2007, while paid memberships for city residents dropped 10 percent. The City Council recently agreed to spend $293,000 on climbing walls, interactive dance systems and pool toys to attract families and keep up with fitness trends. Major renovations to the Kempsville and Bow Creek centers will cost several million dollars.

Membership fees are increasing 20 percent on Tuesday, but without the 3.4 cents on the 89-cent tax rate dedicated to recreation centers, Virginia Beach still cannot afford them.

The number of children living in Virginia Beach is declining. The number of adults with memberships at the recreation centers also is down. Councilman Jim Wood has cautioned against reading too much into a 10 percent membership decline over four years. But the financial, attendance and population trends ought to be taken more seriously, both to determine the future of the recreation centers the city already has, and to help decide whether building a new one can be justified.