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CE,O|CFFS|M2016 <br />ITY OF UGENEREGON ONSERVATION INANCE EASIBILITY TUDY AY <br />Examples of aging park infrastructure include play equipment reaching the end of its useful life, <br />broken and worn out park furniture, bark running trails that are not up to safety and usability <br />standards, cracked and unsafe concrete paths, and restrooms needing repairs and aesthetic <br />upgrades. While the city has managed to extend the life of these types of amenities for many years, <br />eventually they will need to be removed or closed if funding for maintenance remains limited. <br />Maintenance of natural areas through trail maintenance, vegetation management and habitat <br />enhancement is an ongoing expense needed to keep these areas safe and protect and sustain the <br />7 <br />natural beauty valued by the community. <br />Like most city services, operating funds for recreation programming were trimmed through the <br />recession years.This reduction has impacted the level of service that recreation currently <br />provides. Additional funding would be needed in the future to meet these service gaps: <br />meeting the growing challenge of serving seniors and people with disabilities; <br />providing additional scholarships for low-income families; <br />expanding school district partnerships to provide after-school programming; <br />and staffing new community centers or pools in currently underserved areas. <br />Five of Eugene’s six community centers were built in the late 1960s and 70s (averaging 45 years <br />old). By current standards, they have a relatively small average size of 8,500 square feet. In <br />addition to their size, the quality and condition of the facilities reflect their age and lack of financial <br />investment in renovation or expansion. As a result, most centers are in need of rehabilitation, are <br />costly to maintain, and do not have the capacity or the flexibility to meet growing community <br />programming needs. The city has identified a backlog for approximately $10 million in <br />rehabilitation needs in these facilities. <br />Two of the city’s three pools were built in the late 1960s and are now 48 years old. The newest <br />pool, which was expanded and renovated in 2001, is only open six months each year, as it is an <br />outdoor pool. This places the burden of aquatic services through the winter months on the two <br />older pools, which are both in need of major renovation. Many of the primary systems of both <br />pools (plumbing, electrical, HVAC, furnishings) are beyond their expected useful life. The <br />plumbing system in one pool complex needed its plumbing system replaced two years ago, and the <br />8 <br />other could failat any time. <br />Funding for renovating or replacing park and recreation amenities and facilities is limited, and, <br />because of the magnitude of the need, will require voter-approved bond funding or another large <br />source of capital dollars dedicated to specific projects. Ongoing sources of maintenance-eligible <br />facility replacement funds are relatively limited when compared to the backlog of work needing to <br />be addressed. Small amounts of the city’s General Fund and developer impactfees are allowed to <br />be dedicated to park renovation work, but in general, Community Centers, Parks and Pools tend to <br />be managed to maintain infrastructure in its current state for as long as possible. Available capital <br />dollars for maintenance-based re-construction in Parks has been focused almost solely on projects <br />7 <br />City of Eugene Parks and Recreation System Needs Assessment Report <br />8 <br />City of Eugene Parks and Recreation System Needs Assessment Report <br />10TTPL::CFD <br />HE RUST FOR UBLIC AND ONSERVATION INANCE EPARTMENT <br /> <br />