New Community Room

FYI, since this idea was first pitched, I always thought where are you going to put it. Then what amenities and what will be the cost of those in licensing, construction costs, manpower and insurance. Then, since space is at a premium, who will have to give up what? Then after listening to all the bellyaching I came to believe the viable option should be the Sonoran room at Grand. It’s big enough, convenient enough, lots of parking. The group that meets there can take over the space at Fairway and there enough pool tables in Sun City to accommodate those people. Since this falls under the business affairs of the corporation, Board and management can handle the details without endless changes proposed by the members and voted on five times a year for X number of years.

 

Tom actually had a great suggestion and one that makes perfect sense. You would understand this concept better than most Dave; living on the South golf course, you know how poorly the course was designed. The goal/purpose was great, all that extra rough area for bleachers to be set up to accommodate the endless stream of tournaments to be held there. But alas, when the pros did show up, they obliterated our courses with scoring that was record setting. Playing from the blue tees meant nothing with scoring in the low 60's; picture would they would do these days.

Now we are staring at a 20 million dollar bill to change to desert landscaping. The best laid plans eh?

The other day i was researching the museum archives in preparation for the RCSC video on the Sundial Rec Center. I found an early DEVCO release that fits nicely with Tom's suggestion. Did you know, the mall area (between the two buildings) was described as 16,000 square feet of covered area? Lots of grandiose plans were suggested, most never materialized.

We all saw 3 or 4 years back when the RCSC did a study on flat space utilization. I was surprised, there were 27 of them across the 8 centers. The net was the vast majority were under-utilized. Not by a little, but by a lot. The highest use was the Sundial Auditorium, by far, something in excess of 60%. We know that center gets huge numbers of members (and non) flowing through. Certainly the club spaces help, but it is easily the one center with the most transient traffic flow as they attend these events.

I would love to see any available data regarding the utilization of the mall area. We know when there is an event like the day after Thanksgiving sale they use the mall for over-flow. That's two days a year. Sure there might be another couple of events per year that book the outdoor covered space, but for the vast majority of the year, those forlorn tables and chairs sit empty.

Imagine if 12,000 square feet of it was enclosed and used in a better way. Imagine traffic before and after all of the events there had a stopping off point. Imagine of it was a comfortable space where members could gather and chat, read a newspaper or enjoy a cup of coffee.

We were told the costs would be high; no shock there. To me it's the perfect location as we kick no one from their space. It's smack dab in the middle of the community, you know, phase 2 where almost 50% of the homes are. It's also not the kind of location you just grab and create. It takes planning along with a master plan that fits the long term goals we should have; but don't.

Best of all, getting there would create an obligation to engage the owners (members) as to what they wanted, what they saw as possible/doable.

None of this is that hard...other than we make it so.

 

And it's my understanding that Sundial is the very last Rec Center on the schedule to be renovated, so by doing anything at that location, it will be sustained and usable for many years to come.

We always seem to be told that without anybody ever doing due diligence to present us with real number!

Sorry, but I need more than just an opinion!

 

I think the bigger picture is being overlooked. It’s awesome there is a community room and that they recycled items from other areas of SC. There is just no communication.

· No one who used the room for billiards was told/asked about it
· No one who had been meeting (“The Gathering”) had been contacted (to the best of my knowledge because no one will answer my question) about what they would like to see.
· The room is not in a location that is conducive for people in phase 2 or 3 to seek out
· I admit I have not seen it however it appears there is seating for 6 plus a card table with a few chairs. Not exactly a gathering place to meet a larger group of people.

I don’t really care as I never go to Phase 1, I have no reason to. My issue is not the room, more like how it came about. As with so many other things over the past 18 months homeowners had no say at all. Who owns Sun City?

Also, this next question while off topic is still on topic regarding lack of communication. Anyone know what’s happening with our Technology Department and the website updates? I really don’t want to start a new thread because it may be complete and one quick answer will end the topic.

 

Just a friendly reminder about our "Gathering" today (Thursday, 8/21) at the Grand Center, Sonora Room. Staring time is 3 pm and we should be done by 5 pm. Apologies to those of you looking for the "Early Bird Special" (is that still a thing?).

We have a couple of topics we will be focused on: First off is the community room at Fairway just opened and second and my personal favorite; how to best reach, educate and welcome new home buyers to our amazing way of life. I also want to spend short period talking about the next 4 months and all the RCSC has on their plate...and the role we might play.

Hope to see some of you there.