Approved Materials - Reston Community Center

Reston Community Center Staff Report
Leila summarized the attached report which outlines the recommendations and strategies presented in
response to input from the February Joint Committee meeting that aligned with RCC’s strategic plan
goals and objectives. In addition to responding to this public input, the staff reviewed data that would
provide measurable success benchmarks, such as community participation in the February meeting,
patron feedback, participation data, and financial performance. Specifically with respect to facility
planning, benchmarks are: community participation, capacity utilization, new program space and facility
development opportunities. Then the report discusses subsidy levels at RCC, which were last examined
in 2006. Subsidized program philosophies are: Fully Subsidized (soul of the agency) Programs,
Substantially Subsidized Programs and Minimally Subsidized Programs. We explored all program areas
to identify areas where pricing should be reviewed:
Arts and Events:
Leila indicated that Arts Education offerings are a bit below where market value suggests, so the staff has
suggested a 2.5% price increase for those offerings in order to recover costs aligned with the subsidy
level applicable. She indicated that the Ceramics Studio fees have not changed since the studio opened
in 1999.
In our Events division, Staff has suggested revenue-generating options for both the Multicultural Festival
and the Reston Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration. The Multicultural Festival suggestions include
vendor booths and Book Fair sales to help recover costs for these events. The MLK day suggestion is to
establish a small nominal fee for the keynote speaker luncheon event.
Leila indicated that staff suggests pricing schedule changes for our Professional Touring Artist Series in
order to align with the market and encourage audience growth. These changes include discounts for
youth and family oriented performances and higher prices for weekend performances.
The report suggests the addition of fees for use of equipment and technical support for events in the
CenterStage and the Community Room.
Aquatics:
Staff reviewed classes and the pool rental program, and recommends focusing on gate fees and multivisit
passes’ pricing. It is difficult to compare an array of data because RCC structures pricing differently
than Herndon Community Center and the Park Authority. There are many approaches to visit pricing.
These numbers represent as close an “apples-to-apples” comparison as we could make. She explained
the methodology for analyzing pricing. The RCC Staff recommends discussing and revisiting visit and
pass prices, but did not offer specific numbers at this time. A process that includes input from our patrons
will be suggested to the Finance Committee at their meeting on March 18.
Leisure & Learning:
Staff offered the following responses to suggestions made at the February suggestions from the monthly
board meeting:
Offer a sustainability discussion group – RCC will host a drop-in sustainability discussion
group. The group will begin in the fall.
Offer workforce development opportunities – RCC continues to reexamine our offerings,
which do include workforce development classes. We will also leverage information for Fairfax
County’s Adults and Continuing Education (ACE) courses and explore inclusion of that
information in our marketing materials.
Expand Prospera Hispanic Leaders Program – Staff considered and reviewed the program
and believes it’s at the right level right now. To expand it would represent an inequitable
distribution of resources across Reston elementary schools.
Use the computer room for afterschool options – Staff did analysis on the operating costs for
this suggestion. The staff also looked into equipping the computer room with Apple products,
which are more attractive to younger students. Those costs are detailed in the attached report.
Waitlists for summer camp offerings – Staff is working to expand Road Rulz to an additional
50 participants and she presented the associated costs to the Board. For youth summer camps,
the report outlines specialty camps where we could add spaces.
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