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Rec Department seeking direction

Rec Manager Jordan Petrovics is looking at the department's programming and how to improve services.
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The recreation department is seeking direction from council on a number of initiatives.

The Town's Recreation Department may be in summer mode, but its manager Jordan Petrovics is still looking at their year-round programming, and how to improve services, as well as keep communication strong.

During a presentation to Town Council, Petrovics talked about what is happening at the municipality’s three major recreation facilities (the swimming pool, arena, and Mount 7 Rec Plex), as well as the communications role that falls under his department.

"People want to be able to find information quickly," he said. That is why the part-time communications position, filled by Carrie White, has been focusing on providing vital information to as many mediums as possible, including newspaper, radio and online.

Results of this kind of work are difficult to track, but Petrovics believes that, "no news is good news."

"It's really hard to get hard data, but the fewer phone calls you receive is a good sign," he said.

Specifically through the recreation department, which can be a little more fun with their public communication, they are seeing more instantaneous results. The swimming pool staff often post videos online, and it helps get more people through the doors.

The Rec Plex, which has only been in the Town's control for less than two years, is also starting to see some good usage, but the hope is that will continue to grow as people become more connected with the facility.

"Through programs like the Universal Pass Card, we're trying to get users to look at the facility as theirs, a place where they feel a sense of ownership to it. As opposed to, this is where I play basketball," he said.

Hopefully the numbers will continue to show growth, but it's still too soon to tell.

"I think it is still too early to see results through our Rec Plex numbers," said White. "We really don't have a lot to compare it to yet."

Winter is still a ways away, but the arena is already seeing interest for bookings for the upcoming season. Golden is a desirable place for Alberta teams to play tournaments, but the department is trying to balance making money from out-of-town users, with making sure local users still get to take advantage of the facility.

"We've changed our cancellation policy, which has helped us fully utilize the facility…but we would definitely like to get some direction from council," said Petrovics.

"We'd like to give our local users first crack at the can…but local groups don't set their schedules until later in the season, and we're already getting interest from out of town groups."

Council agreed that they needed to set some direction, but decided to defer the discussion to the next meeting when they would have more time to dedicate to it.