Beaufort County rec centers report rising visits; staff adjust counts for door traffic

Parks and Recreation staff reported rising utilization at county recreation centers and described how they adjusted raw footfall counts to better reflect actual visits. Heather Clint, a recreation staffer, told the Beaufort County Parks and Recreation Advisory Board that the department reduced recorded footfall at some sites to correct for people exiting and re-entering through multiple doors.

"The check-in totals are people who came in and registered for something, whether it was a membership or a program, so they checked in at the front desk," Clint said while explaining the distinction between check-in totals and footfall counts. Staff said Buckwalter and Burton Wells footfall totals were reduced by 30% to account for people who left and then re-entered through different doors; Lynn Brown’s readings were cut by 50% because the facility has a single entrance and the new machine there was installed Aug. 18.

The adjustments matter because the department uses these figures to track facility utilization, justify staffing and maintenance, and plan programming. Clint said Lynn Brown saw a sharp increase in check-ins after its new gym opened. "Lynn Brown has gone up a lot since the new gym," she said.

Board members asked whether the reduction percentages reflected observation or an empirical calibration; staff replied that the factors were selected based on front-desk observations and typical traffic patterns at each site. The board approved routine business items earlier in the meeting and heard this report as part of department updates.

The department said it will continue to monitor counts as registrations and seasonal usage change and will report back if it refines the methodology.