Reply to Arlington proposing to close county gymnastics program

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Parents will happily pay more, its a good program. [/quote]+1[/quote]

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The gymanstics people and the swim people should pay for what the programs cost, including a share of the giant buildings dedicated to your sport that you use for free.

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The buildings aren't being used for free as everyone pays fees.  These buildings should be packed with toddler, preschool and little kid classes, as demand is through the roof.  If Arlington wants to recover costs, they need to do their jobs and utilize the space.  They should be hosting kid gymnastics birthday parties, open gym nights with babysitting, senior workout classes during the day, etc.  We have the facility.  Parks and Rec just need to do their jobs and fill it.[/quote]

They are getting the space for free. At least for swimming, the county and APS charge outside groups rental fees. It makes up a huge portion of the costs for club swimmers. Many of whom I’m sure would be happy to swim for AAC if it didn’t fill up immediately. [/quote]
That's the county model.  Teams aren't paying the full cost of their field usage either given the value of land in Arlington.  We can change the model, but it should be done across the board.  In this case, there was never a proposal to change fees.[/quote]

Acting like the fields are the same thing as a gym dedicated to gymnastics is not a winning argument.  These fields are heavily used by the community and it’s not just kids and families it’s people of all ages playing pickle ball up soccer, volleyball etc.

Also the idea the county should turn into a birthday party facility to help pay for this??

Just say we can afford it and we will pay more taxes.  Or say what you would cut instead.

We haven’t even seen the schools cuts yet.[/quote]
Have you been in the Barcroft gym?  It's packed with kids of all ages doing gymnastics.  Every station has kids.  It's no different than the fields.  [/quote]

Yes, my kids went to Barcroft when they were younger.  I understand it is used.  The point is yes that's serving a niche interest.  Trying to make it sound like this is some widely used thing is just not the way to go in my opinion if you want to argue against the cut.  The fields have adults using them regularly.  They are big with the 20-something crowd.  Go by Quincy Park on a warm evening.  Volleyball all over and non-organized soccer being played.  Older people doing yoga classes.  People walk their dogs.  Other people do live here.  People with kids tend to think they are the only taxpayers in this County.  We're not.[/quote]
Every sport is a niche interest.  You can't play soccer on a tennis court or basketball on a volleyball court.  If there's demand to keep the space heavily utilized then the facility is justified.  Fields aren't even close to fully utilized with many sitting empty got big chunks of time.  The Barcroft gym is just as busy year-round as the busiest warm day at Quincy park.

We don't expect senior centers to have activities for all.  Nor do we ask Arlington's nature centers to run programs for adults--those are almost entirely targeted at kids.  Nor are playgrounds designed for all ages.  That's never been an expectation that every resource has to be for all ages.[/quote]

Missing the point.  It’s about the cost of providing the resource and what is the role of government.  I can appreciate that people who use it like that their county is providing them a subsidized competitive gymnastics team in a very well equipped and dedicated gym for their use.  Is that what they should be doing when we can’t afford everything the county is doing?

Throw down some mats in the corner of TJ and offer basic gymnastics classes for entry level kids 0-5.[/quote]
If the county isn't going to subsidize youth sports, that should be the policy across the board.  Look at fees for all youth sports.

And let's bulldoze Long Bridge while we're at it.  We all know that the cost of that facility is why we now can't afford other nice things.[/quote]

I’m with you on the swim team and you all should ask for these numbers although the pools are far more heavily and widely used than a gymnastics gym.  I don’t think you’re going to like the answer on how gymnastics stacks up.[/quote] I don't think you're going to be right on usage. Those gyms are always full of kids. And to the extent there's additional capacity, there's no reason that Parks and Rec couldn't fill it if they wanted to. The staff just isn't running the program in that way.[/quote]

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