Satisfaction with Servus Credit Union Place is at its highest level since the facility opened but customers still want improved change rooms, larger fitness facilities and more program options.
A survey conducted in November showed 94 per cent of respondents were either very satisfied (30 per cent), satisfied (55 per cent) or somewhat satisfied (nine per cent) with the facility overall. Some 93 per cent would recommend a facility membership to others, the survey found.
“We’re really pleased that we are meeting the community’s health, wellness and active living needs,” said facility director Diane Enger. “We will look to the areas of improvement and address those.”
The poll by Banister Research & Consulting saw nearly 700 customers surveyed through telephone interviews and online surveys. The results are considered accurate to within 3.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Safety, atmosphere and maintenance all ranked highly, as did customer service.
Fitness services was the area that ranked highest when respondents were asked about value for money. Eighty-five per cent of respondents reported owning a membership.
The facility has been controversial since it opened in the fall of 2006. Satisfaction ratings among customers have generally hovered around 86 or 87 per cent but one broader community-wide survey in 2008 found that 49 per cent of respondents were dissatisfied. This came after news surfaced that the facility ran a $2.2-million deficit in its first year.
The 2010 result is the highest in the facility’s history, which Mayor Nolan Crouse credits to Enger’s efforts.
“She’s developed a very high degree of customer service,” Crouse said. “The second thing is the staff have worked hard to diversify the clientele that are coming there.”
The areas that are most in need of improvement are the locker rooms, the survey says, with the small size drawing complaints since opening day. People also want larger fitness facilities and more program options.
Enger said she’s putting together ideas to maximize the existing footprint but said adding programming won’t be easy.
“We just don’t have enough space within Servus Place to run all the programs that are in demand,” she said. “We could use another fieldhouse, another gymnasium, another fitness studio, more track space.”
Facility operators have identified expansion as their top priority but city council isn’t likely to inject capital funding within the next two or three years, Crouse said.
“I still would like us to do everything we can to fill the facility in its off-peak hours and its off-peak months,” he said, citing concerts and trade shows as potential ideas.
He’s still hopeful that the facility can someday break even, as was promised when the community voted on whether or not to build it, despite its annual operations having levelled off at a deficit of about $750,000 a year.
