Bennington Recreation Center Community Survey Results

Bennington Recreation Center Community Survey Results

Bennington Recreation Center Task Force

Joanne Ernhouse, ChairKiah Morris, Chair

Nicole Rau, AmeriCorps VISTA MemberSue McGuire, Survey Workgroup Leader

December 6, 2012

Background

• In the spring of 2012, the Vermont Council on Rural Development held meetings throughout the town of Bennington on a number of different topics.

• People from the community were asked to participate in open discussions on topics they were interested in.

• Community members then voted on action steps to reach different goals; one of those goals was to explore expanding the Bennington Recreation Center to create a larger community center with a variety of programs.

Background

• A task force of volunteers came together to work on this project and launched a community survey to find out what types of programs or features were wanted in a potential space.

• The task force collected the responses and will make recommendations for next steps (based on the results) for the community to review.

Survey Overview

• Surveys distributed throughout greater Bennington Area from October 2012 through November 2012

• Surveys were in both paper and online formats• Promoted and distributed through various channels

– Schools– Employers – Online via Facebook & email – To other Municipalities whose residents might have an interest in using

the facility– Civic Groups like Elks, Lions etc. – Printed in the Bennington Banner– At public events like Fallapalooza and the recent elections

Goal of Initiative: To create a survey that collects feedback on what the community would like to see in a community center and present the results to the task force as a whole (as well as the greater community).

Survey Results

• Majority of responses were from Bennington• Most did not currently use the recreation center but would consider

“if it offered more services”• The top four areas of interest were (in order of response):

– Organized Sports

– Fitness/Wellness Classes

– Outdoor Activities

– Arts and Crafts

• Many respondents included comments that specified their interests. Those items are included in a “word cloud” which is presented later in this presentation.

In total, 2,015 Surveys were collected

Survey ResultsTo analyze the comment sections, we categorized the specific items along themes or words and turned them into a “word cloud” to show the importance or frequency of certain results.

The largest number of comments were about the Pool and programs that are either currently utilized or desired.

Basketball was frequently mentioned with an emphasis on indoor basketball programs.

Indoor running and a track for running or walking as well as groups and classes were repeatedly mentioned.

A desire for a game room with a variety of features like video/computer games, billiards or darts was mentioned. Many youth and adults cited a desire for a place for teens in this respect.

Outdoor activities like skiing, snowboarding, hiking or trail riding were mentioned as related classes and outdoor excursions.

Ice Skating, Ice Hockey and Indoor Rock Climbing were all given significant but equal mention in comments.

Visual Arts and Hunting-related programming were also given substantial mention.

Survey Results

• For Youth, the top areas of interest were:– Organized Sports– Outdoor Activities– Fitness/Wellness Classes

• For Adults, the top areas of interest were:– Fitness/Wellness Classes– Arts and Crafts– Outdoor Activities

Survey Results

Survey Results

Survey Results

Survey Results

Survey Results

Survey Results

Youth Responses

• For these responses, youth are defined as any person aged 18 or younger.

Survey Results - Youth

Survey Results - Youth

Survey Results - Youth

Adult Responses

• For these responses, adults are considered any persons, college-aged, working or retired.

Survey Results – Adult

Survey Results – Adult

Survey Results – Adult

What is a Word Cloud?

• A word cloud is a method used to make a picture out of words. It is a different way of showing how often words or themes appear and can help identify important concepts that might be missed otherwise

• Here, we created a word cloud to show all of the different comments that were hand-written onto the surveys to make sure they were included and heard.

“Word Cloud” of Comments

AnalysisMany of the types of programs requested are currently in existence in the community; some are not.

We believe there is an opportunity to look at an expansion project for the community recreation center to better suit some of the larger community requests.

To support the many other types of programming desired, an expanded Recreation Department will be needed but can be staffed with a combination of paid employees and community volunteers.

Rather than duplicate programs already in existence, cooperative agreements with outside organizations should be pursued to meet the demand.

The Recreation Department can act as a centralized hub for information and coordination of registration utilizing software programs like Rectrac. (Vermont Systems)

Teens and children were mentioned several times and the community has shown a desire for their consideration in programming and space allocations. Youth must be engaged in this process.

Next Steps• To create a report of all of the findings and share

them with the public• To create a comprehensive list of all recreation

opportunities currently available in the area• To begin fundraising efforts and develop a

business plan• To create new conceptual drawings of the

proposed space• To present this information to the public for

feedback and approval

Contact Us

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