Recreation

PARKS RECREATION

2020 HIGHLIGHTS

CITY MANAGER Joe Neeb

RECREATION MANAGER Marcus Gallegos

2 recreation facilities and 9 sports facilities

13 full-time and 12 part-time employees

$139,598.97

annual revenue 18,590 annual attendance 2,009 members

YEAR IN REVIEW

The beginning of 2020 was everything we hoped for as we saw hundreds of people entering the facility for basketball games, recreational swimming, party packages and expanded class offering at the Adult Center.

With a bright and ambitious outlook for the rest of 2020 the recreation department was primed to grow beyond expectations. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic to our department were devastating. The closure in March brought all our programs, swimming and classes to a halt. Despite the difficulties the Recreation Department adapted to the states restrictions to be a viable resource for the community and expand under-utilized areas.

ROSWELL RECREATION & AQUATIC CENTER

GYMNASIUM

The gymnasium saw hundreds of patrons during January and February as the 2019-2020 youth basketball season wound down. The league featured over 800 participants for boys and girls ages 7-13. The league was a huge success and we had many positive reviews from the participants and parents. The heath restrictions prevented us from holding the spring adult volleyball and 3 on 3 basketball league, the summer youth indoor soccer league, youth volleyball and youth basketball leagues. However, during the shutdown, The Roswell Recreation and Aquatic Center saw able to capitalize on significant upgrades and improvements in 2020. The gymnasium was the largest benefactor with the addition of four new bleacher sections to increase the permanent seating capacity by 35%. The new bleachers are an exact match to the existing ones and add a more comfortable feel for our spectators.

The gymnasium also saw four brand new multi-sport scoreboards to give bigger and brighter view for the players, coaches, officials and fans of the scores and time. The new scoreboards are easier to use and can be programed to score multiple sports and events.

Finally, the gymnasium was retrofitted with a new state of the art basket and curtain height adjustment system. The new Porter PowerTouch 5.0 system allows one person the ability using an iPad, to move the baskets to the desired heights and raise or lower the dividing curtains in a matter of a couple of minutes rather 20 minutes with 3-4 people. The new systems saves valuable time and is safer as we no longer need extension cords that people have to step over during the adjustments.

AQUATICS

Although the pool was shut down in March, we were permitted to re-open to lap swimming only in June 2020. This ended up being a very bright spot as we were able to capitalize as being the only aquatic center in Roswell able to open in 2020. The Aquatic Center saw a noteworthy increase in daily lap swimmers that brought a much-needed and important element to center. A substantial portion of the lap swimmers bought memberships to the facility and helped near the 2019 membership revenue.

Another area that saw drastic improvement was our swim lesson program. Several of our lifeguard staff were WSI (Water Safety Instructor) certified by the American Red Cross improving our “Learn to Swim” program. Although restriction limited us to 2 kids per instructor, we were able to provide hundreds of hours of lessons to kids and adults in the community since June.

An additional program that is new is our Water Aerobics program. After working with The New Mexico

Department of Health and the New Mexico Environment Departments Pool Program we were able to successfully begin the Water Aerobics program in October. The program was a much-requested program that benefits several patrons every morning.

The Aquatic Center also had some upgrades. New outdoor furniture was purchased in late 2019 and installed in March 2020 with the anticipation of summer season. A local company installed over 50 brand new benches, tables and loungers and additional shade umbrellas to aid in the comfort of our patrons during the hot summer months. The indoor pool was fitted around the entire perimeter of the pool with an antislip aquatic carpeting to add safety and comfort to our patrons. The new carpet brings a new look and feel to enhance our beautiful center.

EXERCISE PROGRAMMING

Improving the exercise program was a major goal of 2020. In June we were able to update our group exercise room with weight equipment, which was requested by patrons and members on a daily basis. We added several weight and cardio machines to enhance the users experience as well as to draw in new members. We decided to also switch our virtual exercise experience from Fitness Direct to Les Mills Virtual. Les Mills virtual brings a whole new and exciting experience to our patrons by bringing world-leading classes, including BODYPUMP and SH’BAM on our fitness centers big screens. This new platform has helped us drive new membership to our center and enhancing the overall workout experience.

ROSWELL ADULT & RECREATION CENTER

The Roswell Adult and Recreation Center was hit particularly hard with COVID as hit was closed from March until October from an abundance of caution. Before closure the Adult Center was in the midst of their spring class schedule that featured very strong attendance and high usage of our new billiard tables that were installed in December 2019. Room rentals did well in January and February surpassing 2019 pace. During the closure the City Facility Maintenance team did an extraordinary job of cleaning the entire facility from floor to ceiling as well as stripping rewaxing and buffering the floors. The Adult Center reopened in October under strict occupancy and use limits with the billiard room as the main source of visits.

Although all events were cancelled in 2020 the Recreation Department did manage to get in a couple of events prior to March. On February 7th we held the Annual Father Daughter Dance at the Roswell Recreation & Aquatic Center. The dance drew over 100 girls who brought either their fathers or father figures to dance, make crafts, take pictures and enjoy the night. The very next night on February 8th the Adults enjoyed their Annual Valentines dance held at the Roswell Adult Center. The event drew dozens of couples who enjoyed music by Five Star Event Services, a photo booth and lots of dancing and fun.