Friday, April 19, 2024

Where Community Grows: The Recreation Division

It wouldn’t be Park and Recreation Month without celebrating the world-class efforts of our Recreation Division.

The Recreation team is the largest division of the Community Services Department. Their work makes our community stronger. From Athletics to Aquatics, these individuals go above and beyond to create life-long memories for our residents.

The City of Southlake boasts premier recreation facilities and programs, and the recreation professionals in charge of them take pride in delivering the best possible service. Whether you visit the Bob Jones Nature Center, Champions Club, or enroll in one of our programs, you’re bound to run into someone from the Recreation Division. Let’s learn more about their day-to-day.

Athletics: This mighty team runs our athletic leagues, hosts athletic clinics, programs, camps, and partners with our athletic associations to provide recreational athletics services to the Southlake community. They are naturally excellent teammates!

Aquatics: Our top-notch staff manages the award-winning Aquatics Center in Champions Club. Their priority is everyone’s safety while ensuring Champions Club members have access to fun aquatics programs.

Fitness and Performance: This energetic group is all about helping people develop healthy habits. They are happy to help Champions Club members on their fitness journey and always do it with a smile. Their can-do attitude makes everything they do look easy!

Guest Services: This team represents Champions Club to members and visitors daily. They care deeply about forming meaningful connections with our members and take pride in representing our premier recreation facility. Greet them at the Front Desk, and they will surely return the smile!

Marq Maintenance: You don’t become an award-winning facility without a fantastic maintenance team. This dedicated group of staff is responsible for facility safety, maintenance, contract management, and the custodial needs of The Marq Southlake.

Programs: This team is about creating outstanding programs for the entire community to enjoy. From Club Metro to Camp Mania, the Programs team is committed to creating world-class experiences for people to enjoy during their free time.

Happy Park and Recreation Month to the Community Services Recreation Division! This team represents where our community grows every day!

 

Community Services Aquatics Team Receives the TAAF Gold Member City Award

The last few weeks have been very rewarding as Community Services staff continue to receive awards!

The City of Southlake recently received the Gold Member City Award from the Texas Amateur Athletic Federation (TAAF). The Gold Member City Award recognizes significant participation, support, and TAAF involvement.

The Texas Amateur Athletic Federation is a nonprofit organization that promotes, organizes, and conducts amateur athletics in the State of Texas. Their mission is to create and maintain in the State of Texas a permanent organization representative of amateur athletics and/or organizations devoted thereto; to establish and maintain the highest ideals of amateur sports in the State of Texas; promote the development of physical education and encourage the standardization of rules of all amateur athletics, games, and competitions.

The Community Services Department operates various athletic programs that range from Volleyball, Flag Football to Basketball! In addition, the Community Services Aquatics team played a critical role in this year’s TAAF Region 4 Swim Meet.

The Community Services Aquatics team was heavily involved in planning and executing the TAAF Region 4 Summer Regional Swim Meet. Carroll ISD hosted the swim meet from July 8-9, 2022. One hundred swimmers from local cities attended the competition.

Community Services Aquatics Supervisor Jennifer Blackstock served as the TAAF Region 4 Swim Commissioner. Aquatics Coordinator Zack Miller was elected as the TAAF Region 4 Assistant Swim Commissioner.

The Community Services Department is committed to providing world-class experiences to the community. Our team takes the recreation field to new heights, from athletics to aquatics!

Congratulations to Jenn and Zack for being recognized for their outstanding customer service and commitment to quality water programming and safety! We tip our hats to all Community Services employees who make participating with Southlake athletics a life-long memory!

 

 

Community Services Department Wins the TRAPS North Region Excellence in Maintenance Award

The Community Services Department recently learned that it is the recipient of the 2022 Texas Recreation And Parks Society (TRAPS) North Region’s Excellence in Maintenance (Class II) Award!

The Department submitted its recently created Marq Asset Replacement Plan for consideration and is delighted to achieve this recognition from our peers. Let’s learn some more about our newly award-winning Marq Asset Replacement Plan!

With over 107,000 square feet of fitness, aquatics, social, and community spaces, The Marq represents one of the City’s most significant capital investments. In the last year, a cross-departmental team of City staff worked tirelessly to create a comprehensive Asset Replacement Plan for The Marq to proactively strategize critical maintenance and future replacement of every major asset in the building. This collaborative effort resulted in a comprehensive 20-year asset strategy for The Marq Southlake.

Creating the plan was a lengthy and collaborative process between Community Services, Finance, and the City Manager’s Office. Conducting careful research was crucial to creating an operationally and financially viable plan. Staff knew they needed a solid methodology for a fiscally responsible plan.

The plan’s goals were clear: build out a 20-year plan (through the year 2039) that creates a replacement schedule that all staff can adhere to. The plan accounts for future inflation, cost escalation, and labor costs. To be prepared for the worst, the plan incorporated the highest-cost options for the earliest replacement year for each asset to ensure enough funding is set aside annually. To determine accurate replacement years for the plan, staff relied on vendor recommendations, known industry standards, and best practices used by other cities.

After spending most of 2022 working on this project, The Marq Southlake Asset Replacement Plan was complete! A truly comprehensive asset maintenance strategy, the Asset Replacement Plan consists of several unique facility Asset Categories:

  • Aquatics: Pumproom, Spray Walls, Slides
  • A/V: Champions Club, Legends Hall, Aria Amphitheater
  • Flooring: Outdoor Turf Fields, carpet, wood, vinyl, fitness floor
  • Fitness Equipment
  • Furniture and Fixtures: Front Facing, Offices, Blinds, Air Walls
  • Roof
  • HVAC
  • Security Cameras

The Marq Asset Replacement Plan took an exhaustive approach far beyond large-scale investments, like fitness equipment, to include all assets, such as paint and flooring.

The Marq Asset Replacement Plan embodies a year-long process of research, financial know-how, and cross-departmental collaboration. Building solid partnerships with vendors and allowing Community Services staff to take ownership of their business areas was also a crucial step to turning this plan from an idea to improve our financial readiness to a reality.

According to the awards letter, our “nomination stood out above the rest to exemplify commitment and dedication in the field of parks and recreation. We are honored to present this award to you and for your commitment to excellence in all that you do in your daily pursuits.”

The Department will publicly accept this award at the TRAPS North Region Conference in Irving on Thursday, November 3.

Congratulations to everyone who worked on the Marq Asset Replacement Plan for being recognized for your commitment to excellence!

Champions Club Welcomes the Community for Their Open House

It’s no secret that Champions Club at The Marq Southlake is the best gym in Southlake. If you’re not a Champions Club member yet, you may be curious to see what’s inside this world-class facility.

If you’ve always wondered what it would be like to be a part of our family of champions, then you’re in luck! Join us on Saturday, July 24, from 11:00 AM- 2 PM during our Champions Club Open House. It’s the perfect opportunity for everyone to visit Champions Club for free—no membership or pass required!

We know choosing the best gym membership for you can be a daunting task. With so many gyms, fitness boutiques, and specialty clubs available, finding an option that works with your busy schedule can seem like a chore! Not to mention that so many places make you take an Odyssean journey to become a member or cancel your membership.

At Champions Club, we mean it when we say we’re a family, and family doesn’t make family jump through hoops. There’s no fee to become a Champions Club member, no annual fee, no contracts, and no cancelation fee! The price you see is the price you pay. We know that life happens, that’s why we make it seamless for you to join and cancel your membership whenever you need to. No strings attached.

If you’ve been thinking about joining, this is the perfect opportunity for you to see what it feels like to call yourself a Champion.

Here’s what our Champions Club Family had to say about being a part of Champions Club:

“Champions Club provides an all-inclusive experience for our members. We are a one-stop-shop for fitness, weightlifting, aquatics, group fitness, rentals, programs, and more!”

“My kids are members and love coming to Champions Club, and I love how safe Champions Club is!”

“Our facility has something for every age group, whether it’s small children, youth, or adults. We hope that you’ll find your path at Champions Club.”

See us on Saturday, July 24, and become a part of our family!

Champions Club Grand Opening Delayed Due to September Rainfall

Due to heavy rainfall Southlake experienced in September, Champions Club will not open as planned in December. We are working diligently to make up as much time as we can and currently anticipate opening in February.

We appreciate your understanding and can’t wait to serve you at Champions Club. Be sure to visit our website and follow us on Facebook to receive the latest Champions Club updates.

Important Information

  • If you have already purchased your membership, your account will not be charged again until April 1, 2019 or 30 days after the facility opens to the public, whichever date is greater.
  • Sneak peek tours will still be available to our pre-sale members. We’ll be posting the information as soon as we set our dates. It’s not too late to purchase a pre-sale membership! Visit our membership page for all the details.

We are here to answer any questions you may have! Please give us a call at (817) 748-8955 or email us at memberships@TheMarqSouthlake.com.