Sports enthusiasts, community and business leaders participated in a two full days of interviews in May 2016. Representatives from Ballard*King conducted the interviews on behalf of the Helena Regional Sports Association to assess the sports facility needs of the Helena region. The interviews followed after Ballard*King’s economic and demographic analysis of the region found that the Helena region is large and prosperous enough to support a sports facility. All Helena-area residents are invited to review the findings of the economic & demographic analysis and summaries of the community interview and online survey.
Opportunities
The Helena region is large enough to support a significant indoor recreation facility, and the population is projected to continue to grow over the next five years. The region has a reasonably high median household income level and there is expected to be growth in the youth age categories in the future. These factors will contribute to higher rates of participation in most recreation activities.
There are no true public indoor pools in the market area and no indoor pool that is able to support competitive swimming. No comprehensive indoor recreation center exists to serve Helena-area residents, and availability is limited for the use of school gyms for community based sports organizations.
Constraints
The population of the City of Helena alone is not sufficient to support a significant indoor recreation facility. Such a facility must draw support from the entire region in order to perform well financially.
There are a considerable number of private health clubs in the Helena area already providing indoor recreation facilities; a new facility will need to provide facilities that do not already exist.