Staff recommends closing Bradfield Recreation Center in FY27; council signals consensus

Parks and facilities staff recommended that the city not continue Bradfield Recreation Center operations in FY27 because the 50-year-old facility requires extensive system and pool repairs and has reached end-of-life in key infrastructure. Staff provided rough-order-of-magnitude estimates: about $1.4M for structural/gym-floor remediation and roughly $747K for pool system repairs, with the total operating/system-budget need to continue the facility estimated at about $2.2M.

Parks staff proposed reallocating seasonal lifeguards and other Bradfield personnel to nearby facilities (notably Surf and Swim and Holford) and said closing Bradfield would yield approximately $380,000 in annual savings while preserving staff positions by shifting assignments. "If council does provide direction to close this facility in 2027, we would allocate any of that seasonal staff associated with Bradfield over to facilities like Surf and Swim," staff said.

Councilmembers discussed community outreach and acknowledged emotional attachment to local facilities, but most expressed support for closing Bradfield and using limited resources strategically; staff agreed to provide public notice and to seek public input through the budget meetings if council confirmed the direction.