Six hundred households in the Gretna area were called in mid-January by FourSquare Research, Inc. The City of Gretna hired the company to complete a feasibility study to investigate the possibility, cost and description of what a community center with indoor and outdoor swimming pools would look like.
The preliminary findings report were delivered to the City of Gretna, Gretna Public Schools and YMCA of Greater Omaha on Jan. 24.
The study found that:
Y Significant overall interest exists in a new YMCA in Gretna as 4.9 percent of all households expressed "a great deal of interest" regardless of location, higher than the national average of 4.5 percent.
Y The Highway 370 location is overwhelming preferred with 97 percent of all prospective members choosing the location compared to only 42 percent for the Fields of Gretna location.
Y The findings provided the following membership forecasts by location. The Highway 370 location membership forecasts to have 1,628 units for new revenue of $941,072 and the Fields of Gretna location forecasts to have 705 units for new revenue of $407,463. Note that the forecasts are made with the assumption that only one facility would be developed.
Y Great price-sensitivity was revealed. Implementing both association-wide (31 percent of all prospective members) and lower/branch-only rates (69 percent) are highly recommended.
Y The Y has great name recognition among area residents with 38 percent stating they knew a YMCA.
Y Area population is physically inactive and the majority of area resident and the vast majority of prospective members can be classified as health-seekers.
Y The marketplace is competitive and crowded with strong presence of profit providers.
Y Prospective members include lots of families with children, aging baby-boomers and health-seekers.
Y An indoor facility of approximately 44,000 square feet is recommended.
The next step is a presentation of a final report.
The feasibility study happened because a new aquatics or community center was one of the top 15 priority city projects identified in July 2010. FourSquare Research, Inc., is a market research and strategic planning company out of Atlanta that completes studies for non-profits across the country.
City Administrator Colleen Lawry said the conversation for a community center started when Mayor Sally McGuire, herself and Len Romano, president and CEO of the YMCA of Greater Omaha, met in October 2011. They discussed the YMCA programs, different levels of programs and the idea of bringing a YMCA to Gretna.
McGuire and Lawry took Romano on a tour of the community and school district. They also met with Dr. Kevin Riley, Gretna Public Schools superintendent, to discuss the possibility of a partnership with the school system, Lawry said.
They agreed the next step would be a feasibility study.
According to the agreement, a consultant will conduct secondary research to find out the needs, determine the targeted survey boundaries and review previous plans and research. The consultant will find the answers to nine questions:
How can a community center best serve the Gretna residents?
How do residents perceive the location of a community center?
How many residents in and near the city would use the facility either as day users or as season pass holders?
What is the potential in revenue generated from user fees? Would it be sufficient to support the operation?
Which configuration of facility features will attract the highest number of participants?
What types of fee-based programs should be considered?
What are the demographics and psychographic profiles of prospective users?
What pricing policy for user fees and program fees would be most appealing to prospective users?
What opportunities for partnerships are present?
A strategic planning team will work with the consultant four times: host a focus group, review the proposed survey, receive the study's initial findings and host the final report presentation.
The 600 telephone interviews were called to randomly selected households in Gretna area that do not belong to a YMCA.
According to the agreement it will take two to three months to complete the feasibility study, which should conclude in late February. Lawry said the city budgeted $50,000 for this project, and this study will cost $28,000.
Copyright ©2012 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or redistributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.
