Birth of the Recreation Department in the 1970-80’s
In the 70’s our area – including Palo Alto, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, etc. — had lots of empty schools like Hillview School. Wings and rooms were leased CHEAP on an annual basis to preschools, sole proprietor consultants, music schools, etc. However, they also started to be used on a short-term rental basis for recurring hourly activites — this required more involved management by the City and soon … the recreation department was born.
Los Altos Measure A will replace the old Hillview Building with one TWICE the size. The Recreation department wants to expand Music and Art offerings competing the with nearby CSMA about a mile north on San Antonio Road in Mountain View.
Expansion of the Recreation Department till now
Lalahpolitico remembers [probably inaccurately] the very earliest City of Los Altos recreation courses were in the 1980s for the Redwood Grove one-week summer camp for kids. [The City purchased Redwood Grove in 1974]. I did not track the expansion of services after that, but I did notice that “courses” became available year-round, served adults and seniors, not just kids and eventually included Grant Park in South Los Altos and the City Gyms at Egan and Blach junior high schools. I understand that over the years, 50,000 different individuals from Los Altos and nearby cities and areas have participated in at least one of our City Recreation programs.
Economics of recreation in a new $85 million facility?
With a $0 capital outlay Recreation Facility — Old Hillview — it made sense to serve thousands of non-residents in order to fill up courses to cover the variable COSTS: 1) the implicit facility rent which covers the maintenance on the Hillview facility and costs of City staff time to manage all the Recreation courses and 2) of course the pay (profit) of the outsourced course instructor. There is no mortgage to pay down in the Old Hillview.
City recreation course fees headed up?
But with a new facility, what kind of rent will have to be charged to course instructors? Course fees must be heading up. A Jazzercise class in a new mortgaged facility should cost more, should it not? We have to pay some interest and pay down the principal. If a course doesn’t cost more in a new facility, isn’t the city just sticking it to the all the property owners in order to subsidize the enjoyment of a certain fraction of residents? Also non-residents are being subsidized by us Los Altans, unless of course non-resident prices are going to go up proportionally more than resident course “fees.”
