11/06/1995 Park Board Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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N I r1VQ` n the one hand,you've got your major headaches— like the laminated wood roof that collapses in the humid confines of a natatorium. Or the rest rooms built— remember your high school physics? — below the elevation of a facility's septic tank and drainfield.Or the cold-climate recreation center outfitted with a fabric roof —but without an adequate dehumidification system—that results in scat- tered showers moving through the south-central portions of the facility's j multicourt forum. .q f But then there are those facility problems which, while not as cata- strophic,nonetheless are imbued with what we might call a high level of A.F. —the Annoyance Factor.These are the rest rooms whose floor drains are set in the floor's high spot; the basketball courts with misplaced electrical outlets,which allow the tangle of wires to trip up unsuspecting players who i • venture too close to the scorer's I table; the soft-backed gym ceiling insulation, pocked with holes from kicked or thrown athletic balls. I These and other gaffes(for a list of Rains some of those submitted by AB read- «. ers, see p. 31) occur with startling regularity in spite of the best efforts �... of facility owners and operators, t ,x.• . ` design professionals, engineers and contractors.Nationally,falling objects r ro r have recently made headlines,raised welts and inspired lawsuits after in& Some of the mistakes committed during the dents in Seattle's and Toronto's i domed stadiums,but everyday other planning and construction of a sports facility facility operators contend with t wreak more havoc than others — although if unpublicized troubles such as foot- ball fields that won't dry out, pool its your facility, there's no such thing as a shells that rust through and locker . -. small problem. room changing areas that sit in clear T view of patrons passing by the open door. Assigning blame is not only difficult,but also counterproductive—and as a * By Andrew Cohen facility owner, maybe even a little self-incriminating. As Jon Wiggins, senior parks planner for the Fulton County (Ga.) Department of Parks and Recre- ation, suggests, a proactive owner, fully involved in the planning process, could have helped ward off even the above natatorium's failed laminated roof. "If you have a proper mechanical design,that laminated wood is about as good as anything going,"Wiggins says."But what you have to be conscious of as an owner, is what could happen if the mechanical system fails. The huge risk falls squarely on the owner's shoulders,and it only takes one situ- ation like that to create such negative press that it's a near impossibility to 28 ATHLETIC BUSINESS August 1995