FACILITY INVENTORY AND ANALYSIS

Recommended standards for selected facilities are shown in Chapter III-C. Following is the present inventory and facilities need in the future (non-cumulative).

Facility	Standard	1997 Inventory (Population 32,300)	Needed by 2002 (Population 35,000)	Needed by 2010 (Population 41,500)	Needed by 2020 (Population 48,000)
League Softball	1 / 6,000	5	1	1	1
Youth Softball	1 / 12,000	2	1	0	1
Youth Baseball	1 / 6,000	6	0	1	1
Tennis Courts	1 / 2,000	19*	0	0	0
Basketball Courts	1 / 5,000	12	0	0	0
Football / Soccer	1 / 5,000	6	0	1	1
Indoor Facilities	1.5 SF / Person	42,000 SF	6,000 SF	14,250	9,750
Swimming	500 SF / 1,000	10,240 SF	7,260 SF	3,250 SF	3,250 SF
*3 courts at Ridgeview are in poor condition. 6 new courts are proposed at Hickory High. 10 courts at the YMCA are not included in the inventory.

Not all of Hickory's recreation needs are met on public facilities. In fact, private facilities and quasi-public facilities serve a great many people. The presence of these facilities relieves the City of a portion of its responsibility for providing public facilities. In determining the extent to which such facilities can offset public needs, however, it is not possible to use the same standards of service as are used to determine public needs. In the case of private and quasi-private public facilities, the number of people to be served by public facilities may be reduced by the number served by private facilities. This assessment is made somewhat more complex by the fact that only certain types of recreation needs are met by these facilities. As an example, an individual residing in an apartment may swim and play tennis at the apartment but may also be an active participant in league play activities sponsored by the City. Thus, in the final analysis, subjective as well as objective means are used to determine the extent to which private and quasi-public facilities can offset the need for public areas and facilities.

In Hickory, swimming pools are located at 18 different apartment areas, and these pools serve approximately 2,000 people. Swimming facilities at the YMCA serve approximately 3,400. Country Clubs serve approximately 1,500 residents. Thus, the total need for public swimming facilities in Hickory can be reduced by the area required to serve approximately 4,000 to 5,000 people.

In the case of tennis courts there are 29 apartment or condominium tennis courts. When the private courts and the YMCA are added, approximately 5,000 to 6,000 people are served adequately with tennis facilities. Courts are also proposed at the High School.

In projecting the future need for public recreation facilities, the availability of private and quasi-public facilities has been fully considered as it affects future needs to be met by the City.

Location	Square Footage
Hickory Optimist	1,767
Highland	11,000
Brown-Penn	6,633
Kiwanis	1,932
Ridgeview	15,680
Westmont	5,217
TOTAL	42,229

The distribution of these facilities is significant. The building at Hickory Optimist Park is used only for storage. Facilities at Brown-Penn and Ridgeview are concentrated and Westmont Center is barely a mile from this area. Thus, much indoor space is concentrated in the southern part of the City.

After accounting for the number of people using the YMCA, there is a gross need for approximately 56,000 SF of indoor space to serve the residents of Hickory, versus a present inventory of 42,229 SF. There is a need for a major indoor facility to serve the growing northeast area as well as some City-wide functions. This facility should contain approximately 18,000 SF of floor space and should include two indoor basketball courts of a junior high school dimension.

Private and quasi-public facilities serve approximately 3,000 Hickory residents for swimming. This leaves approximately 29,000 people to be served by public pools. Using the formula developed in Chapter V, the City should have approximately 14,500 square feet of swimming pool area to serve this number of people. Against this need, there is a current inventory of 10,240 square feet in the pools which are located at Ridgeview, West Hickory and St. Stephens Parks.

There is a present need for an additional 4,200 SF of swimming pool area, and it is recommended that this need be met by constructing one large pool consisting of approximately 5,000 SF in the immediate future. When this pool is completed, the pools at Ridgeview and West Hickory should be closed.