Has anyone been listening? Seriously, if you have been following the member exchanges you have seen/heard folks clamoring for indoor volleyball and basketball courts. You have also heard the controversy over the water volleyball club at Oakmont Rec Center and those wanting the pool open for other things. Unless you have been living under a rock, you know the Sun City Players Club has been clamoring for a Performing Arts Theater for the past 25 or more years. And, you know the dance clubs are fighting over venues for the New Years Eve dances. It's what happens when you work in a vacuum and have no long term master plan. It's what happens when you neglect aspects within the community and throw all the money at one thing; golf for instance. We have watched the RCSC board as they held meetings at Mountainview to get feedback (that's a good thing). We know the Players are talking about a 400 person capacity theater, with the limitations focused on how many parking spaces the county will mandate. The plans also include a pool makeover with concerns about size and function. And we know they are going to finally do something with their fitness area. All of which is good...but is it the best solution? Imagine if you could fix all kinds of stuff with a simple wave of the wand. For starters, what if the theater was given first preference, but moved to the Bell Center where the farmers market is. At least consider a two story theater with seating for 600-800 seats, comfortable chairs and ample parking. Give them great storage and a stage and a sound system that would handle options for all of the performances by musical groups and those kinds of activities. Once that is done; consider turning Mountainview into a "sports venue." Build a gym that accommodates volleyball, basketball and doubles as a large dance hall. Attach a decent fitness area and then look at the footprint of the land available and think about two pools there. One solely for water volleyball and water aerobics (which is huge) and one community pool that handles the large traffic they currently get. I know, too late to get creative and make these kinds of plans, but damn, it is fun to dream about what could be...or is that should be?
Bill, you are so right. The Players club has been asking for theater space for forever.I looked all over the RCSC website, and can not find the long range plan anywhere. What year is Mountainview scheduled for any kind of rework? There hasn't been any kind of a commitment to anyone there for anything as far as I know, which ain't much. Why can't a theater be built on the southwest corner of the Bell Rec center, has that location already been promised to another club? Wouldn't it make sense to do a theater first, to house the players club, then do the "sports venue" at Mountainview? What is stopping this kind of an idea from moving forward? Was there something promised to another club that precludes this type of dual building/renovations from happening? Wouldn't this also solve the parking dilemma by having a theater away from Mountainview? Is there enough space to do dual pools and still save the other activities which exist there now? Sorry for all of the questions, but if this is all doable, then why can't it be done? Yes, it will take time, but what doesn't. Wave the magic wand and give the community what is asking for, what a novel idea.
The biggest argument for this would come from the Players Club. They are so close they can taste it. The funny thing is, under my suggestions, if they were to get a theater scheduled to be built at Bell starting next year that was half again or larger and with adequate parking, how or why would you fight it? It's why i get crazed at a patchwork quilt style of long term plans. Being cohesive and strategic and solving multiple problems with a logical layout and design just makes sense to me. I don't know how any of it would fit into the county's assessment of parking. I know the Bell lot is huge and assume it would allow for 600-800 seats. Someone should find out what is doable at Mountainview and see what limitations there are there. We know from building Fairway, they had to make everything fit on a tight footprint, and to get it done, the County allowed for parking in the median. We know from all the comments at the Mountainview meetings how strongly people feel about their pool. We know they want a fitness center and we know there are issues about incorporating the water aerobics into the mix. We know the water volleyball club has issues at Oakmont already and they want to expand their hours. We know the dance clubs would love more space and we know the volleyball and basketball interests are craving their own venue. And so i am clear, i have no clue if anything i am proposing is doable. I don't know how the parties involved would react or respond. What i do know is the only way to find out is to talk to those impacted and see if it makes sense. What i would hate to see is us stay the course and have everyone kicking themselves that what we did was just not enough.
As long as i rambling along, probably makes sense to remind readers that a performing arts theater was originally slated for Bell but cost overruns caused them to drop it from their plans. Meeker years after in an interview with the Del Webb Museum said he was certain one day we would have the theater we needed.
It is not to late to for a Performing Arts Center to be built, whether at Mountaunview or Bell. And make no mistake that what is needed is a Performing Arts Center, not a theater. A Performing Arts Center could house a wide range of disciplines, all of which can contribute financially to Sun City. In fact, if done well, the center itself could be a money maker for Sun City. Everything that was asked for at the Mountainview forums is doable, would give the community what it wants, revitalize the community, and make Sun City more marketable. Unfortunately, nothing has moved forward on this project since the forums were conducted. The Board is six years ahead on golf renovations, and twenty-five years behind on this project, and they probably think they are doing a great job.
Needless to say, I did not make it to the annual meeting. Not by choice, I really did want to go, but after a 10 hour day, I was bushed. So, it is possible to wave the magic wand and make this happen. I wonder if the Players Club would have enough grit left in them to wait for a true performing arts center to be built? I know they have to be chomping at the bit wanting a theater in Mountainview, but the parking will be an issue, and it will still not be a true theater for the type of productions they would like to put on. All of this will come at a cost. Will the RCSC have the funds to do what it needs to do and continue to construct and remodel facilities? Will the board see this as the next best thing for the community and step and do the right thing? I understand the Jim Wellman replacement left, so now the management team doesn't have the "expertise" it needs to get a lot of these things off the ground. Or, where do you find a Jim Wellman replacement that is willing to deal with the issues which arise within the RCSC? Hope all are enjoying the annual meeting and some really great information comes out of it. I hope it is video taped and available for viewing. I would really love to see how things went.
