In an effort to stem large financial losses at the municipally-run recreation center, the Secaucus Town Council announced Tuesday that it was cutting membership rates.
The governing body has considered such a move for the past year, ever since it announced that membership fees have not covered annual operating expenses.
As of last month, the Recreation Center, which opened its doors in December 2008, had 1,811 members. The number was down from a year ago, when membership peaked at 2,300 members.
Under the plan, access to the pool, basketball court, and track is essentially free.
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As little as $10/month
Town officials now hope that cheaper membership rates will convince more residents to join.
“It’s now essentially free to be a member,” said Mayor Michael Gonnelli last week. “When you average it out, people will now pay just a few dollars a month.”
Effective immediately, teens and adults ages 16 to 62 will pay an annual membership of $120 to access the facility’s second floor fitness center. Residents in this same age group will be asked to pay $150 a year for a “class membership,” which allows people to take such classes as Tai Chi, yoga, and Zumba on an unlimited basis.
An all-inclusive membership, which allows people to access the fitness center and take unlimited classes, is available for $250 for teens and adults ages 16 to 62. Individual seniors over age 62 can get an all-inclusive membership for $175, while senior couples can buy the all-inclusive package for $300 a year.
Under the new rate plans, which were announced at Tuesday’s Town Council meeting, access to the center’s indoor pool, basketball court, and track is essentially free. People interested in these facilities will now pay a nominal registration of $25 for the first family member and $5 for each additional member of the household. (Those who purchase the fitness or class memberships do not have to pay extra to use the pool, basketball court, or track, nor will they have to pay the $25 annual registration.)
“We’ve been doing some things at the Recreation Center to get more people to use it,” said Deputy Mayor and Recreation Committee Chair John Bueckner during Tuesday’s council meeting. “I’m not saying it’s perfect right now, but what we’re trying to do is stimulate interest. We thought if we lower the rate, hopefully we’re going to bring more people in.”
Under the new rates, Bueckner added, all members will pay less money annually than they have in the past.
One skeptical couple who worked out the math after the council meeting eventually concluded that they will now, in fact, pay $280 annually for their family under the new rates, compared to $350 under the old rates.
Anyone who recently renewed their membership under the old rates will be given prorated extensions on their memberships so that they will end up paying comparable rates to new members.
‘See how it goes’
Recreation Center membership remains available only to town residents and people who work in Secaucus.
The membership rate plans announced Tuesday are more streamlined than the ones that have been in effect since the center opened two years ago. Gone are the special membership plans that had been offered for young adults, families, and non-senior couples – plans that were confusing to some people, according to Town Administrator David Drumeler.
“We think this is going to work. But this is a trial,” Gonnelli said. “We’ll see how it goes.”
Since taking office last January, the Gonnelli administration has been seeking ways to raise revenue and boost membership at the struggling Recreation Center. Swim teams from other municipalities have been permitted to rent the center’s indoor pool, for instance. And the town may still negotiate an agreement with the Secaucus Board of Education to lease Rec Center facilities for some of its sports teams, as has been discussed for years.
The reduced membership rates are a marketing strategy the administration first floated early last year.
A number of sports clubs have opened in Secaucus in recent years, including Curves and LA Fitness, creating competition for the Secaucus Recreation Center in a town of roughly 16,000 people.
The Recreation Center has long been controversial. It cost an estimated $12 million to build, even though original construction costs had been estimated to be $4.5 million – and was mostly built through bonding and other taxpayer dollars. Some residents also believed the decision to build the facility should have been put up for referendum for voters to decide. Instead, the project was approved by the administration of former Mayor Dennis Elwell.
E-mail E. Assata Wright at awright@hudsonreporter.com.