Yesterday FYI posted a comment asking about the Visitor Center and the potential for it to become a community gathering spot. He since has taken it down, but it left me wondering, would it be a viable option? It's been a while since i walked through their doors, but if memory serves me it's pretty small. Especially when you consider the two offices that were built for the two full time employees it once had. That's all changed, and as Tom noted their hours are Monday-Thursday 9 am till 3 pm (?). I've written before, the Visitor Center was my first volunteer job in Sun City and the first board i had served on. Back in those days, we were free standing; that was life before being purchased by the RCSC (circa 2103). There was one employee and the only way he kept the doors open was to raise enough money to pay his salary and the related expenses. It was originally (in the 90's) located on the corner of 99th and Bell road, where the burger shop is. It was started by a group of local businesses called the Ambassador's. After several years it was moved to it's current location. Paul Herrmann did a great job as the single employee and there were a lot of long-time residents who volunteered. It was a blast to work at, with many of those coming through the doors interested in buying into the community we all loved. I took every Saturday, as many of the older volunteers wanted weekends off, and honestly the bulk of those interested in buying in Sun City, often came by on the one weekend day we were open. A week or so ago, i returned a book to the library and walked over and saw the sign out front with their open hours. I had read that was the case, i was just surprised to see it was the case. Tom's remark's triggered the question/value of the Visitor Center, and more importantly an even larger concern. Simply put, what are we, who are we...as a community? On it's face, that's a simple question and i suspect means more to those involved or embedded in the activities across Sun City. For others, it may mean little to nothing; at all. Can you answer the question?
Bill, I took the post down because it wasn't generating any feedback. Regardless whether or not the current location of the Visitor Center is adequate for even a small community room on a trial bases, I think the bigger issue is the fact that it's closed on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I would think that that's when it would receive the most real visitors and not just curious Sun City residents! I wish they had data on how many times the Visitor Center was visited on Friday, Saturday or Sunday only to see a CLOSED sign? The second part of that post was where I proposed to move the Visitor Center, and it's brilliant! The RCSC says they are going to eliminate the indoor spas because they just need to much maintenance, so here's the plan; eliminate the spa located next to the fitness room at Lake View and turn that into the Visitor Center. There is a Facility Associate right there at the fitness room who could entertain any visitors to the Visitor Center all weekend long!!! No need for volunteers, and no need to hire an additional person! It's a win-win! Isn't Lake View, after all, the show-piece of Sun City with Viewpoint lake and Meeker Mountain?
Little clean-up here Tom; Meeker Mountain. Anyway, love the free style out of the box thinking, we've become too trapped in that mindset that was has been must always be. I'm pretty sure when Lakeview is remodeled the indoor spa will be gone. I also have no idea the current utilization numbers, so someone should be paying attention to that. I would also hope the Visitor Center numbers are being watched. Actually i know they are, i'm just too lazy to go look for them. I can tell you the value of human contact versus a place to pick up a brochure is wildly different. We've always struggled with the question of quality rather than quantity. Back in the days, loved going to old Country Buffet, (these days if they were still open), i wouldn't go if you gave me two free meals. Which brings me full circle, to asking what are we, who are we? Are we, can we be all things to all members? I would argue not, resources are not unlimited and while the RCSC has a boatload of money, they also have an even larger boatload of expenses. Rather than creating a cohesive master plan where we concentrated resources where best applied, we've just thrown money (indiscriminately?) at problems past boards (or worse yet, the general manager) saw fit to just spend it on. We no longer have that luxury; and in fact, realistically we should never have been that foolish. We were, and my biggest fear is we will still function like drunken sailors as opposed to a well oiled machine equipped to face the realities of an ever changing demographic. It's difficult, if for no other reason every board member elected has a limited time in office. Be it three years, or six, everything of any substance takes time. Once done, the question should be: was it worth the time and investment, was it something we needed, something the board or GM wanted, or something they were badgered into? That's hard, because it forces people to be critically honest with themselves. It's also why the idea/concept that committees of members can add so much to the process. Which is also why the general manager/board of directors voted years back to disband the long range planning committee. Why a board president proclaimed we didn't need a committee of members, the board could handle it. Myopic, close-minded thinking ruled the day for more years than i can count. The fight to restore any sense of sanity to "bigger picture thinking" has been difficult at best and nearly impossible at worst. We could be in such a different spot today had we only been willing to trust the members and be willing to openly engage them with options and opportunities. We not only weren't, we ran away from them with the belief a handful of board members in concert with the general manager knew better what the community needed. Yes, i see glimmers of hope and at the same time i see an internal struggle where some board members feel they are/should be the answer. It was the fallacy of the past twenty years, leaving the members out of the equation made everything worse. And on those rare occasions we reached out and included them (think SAC), we saw board members claw back and redirect the process thinking they knew better. Are we in a better place? Will we be willing to create a master plan with member input? Are we willing/interested in making a commitment to helping shape that sense of community Sun City was built on and around? I don't know the answers, i do know the potential is there. Only time will tell if we have learned anything from our past mistakes?
I was there this morning and asked the FA about the usage. She said they're hardly used. I can tell you that I go to that fitness center 3 times a week and have never seen anybody using the spas. That area seems to be quite a bit larger than the current Visitor Center. They could turn that space into a really nice place. My bad on Meeker Mt. Can I blame it on spell check?
Nope...got a better idea for that! We use the breezeway at Sun Dial. What if the breezeway up at Sun Dial was closed-off, walled-up, air conditioned with tinted windows? First of all, think about the show-rooms at car dealerships. They have fully glass show-rooms but they also have sections with pedestrian doors within larger size doors for when they need to move cars in and out of the show room. I'm thinking something similar could be done on both the North and South end of the space at the ramps for the times delivery trucks need to drive into that area. It's a nice size space that could accommodate nice seating arrangements, a coffee bar, etc. It eliminates the need to go find another location or wait until the next Rec Center needs to be renovated. It's something that could be looked into right now and perhaps put on next years PIF?
