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Use of Leisure Facility declining

Public use of the Houston Leisure Facility is steadily decreasing, and revenue in the last three years has dropped 24 percent.
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Houston Leisure Facility use has been dropping steadily in the last five months. The above chart shows the District of Houston revenue from the facility

Public use of the Houston Leisure Facility is steadily decreasing.

District revenue October to February in the last three years is down 24 percent: that is $20,121 less than two years ago.

Total revenue from the Leisure Facility between October 2012 and February 2013 was $83,315.

Total revenue between October 2014 and February 2015 was $63,194.

Houston council briefly discussed the decline at a meet last Tuesday.

Looking at the statistics from February, Councillor John Siebenga said "boy, they sure dropped from 2013. Is there any explanation?"

Director of Leisure Services Ryan Coltura says they are still trying to assess where the drop is coming from.

Coltura said part of it is because of the closure of Houston Forest Products last May.

"With the shutdown of the sawmill and the uncertainty around that, we did notice a reduction in services at that time," he said.

"Part of it is due to how the statistics are entered into the system. We have seen some changes from year to year with the transition of people, but that is one thing we are trying to address to make sure we are consistent.

"The other big thing to realize is that from 2014 to 2015, we have seen a reduction in hours the facility is operating.

"In 2014, we have also seen a number of pool closures, due to the pseudomonas bacteria… We have lost customers as a result of that, so we are actively trying to bring people back."

"We still don't have a very clear picture as to exactly why the usage has dropped."