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Superintendent's 2006 Annual Report On behalf of the South Bend Board of Park's Commissioners and the administrative staff of the Department of Parks and Recreation, I am pleased to submit our ?006 annual report. Despite the fiscal challenges before us in 2006, the SBPRD had a very productive year in programming, marketing, facility upgrades, and maintenance. Highlighting the year was the completion of four major capital improvements. The park maintenance facility located along the St. Joseph Rig-~er iu Howard Park since 1960, has finally been demolished and relocated to it's new location on High Street. The new and improved maintenance facility now provides adequate space and equipment for park crews to be a more productive work force. Furthermore, all ~-~elucles and equipment are now stored inside the new facility. Indoor storage provides better care and less chance for vandalism to occur. Total cost of the new facility and demolition of the old building totaled $1.7 million. Our second major capital project was the expansion of the O'Brien Fitness Center. The new addition provides an additional 7500 square feet for the cardio and strength training area, and doubles the size of the old ~~roup fitness room. With "state of the art" equipment and a trained staff, our fitness center had a tremendous year. During 2006 the fitness center had over 64,000 member v°isits and over 1800 new membership sign ups. These numbers are four times ~~reater than what we proposed only five years ago with our first fitness facility. Memberships and fitness classes generated over $275,000. in revenue in 2006. The million dollar capital investment in this facility helps demonstrate the City of South Bend's commitment to fitness and over all health and wellness to the community. The Pinhoo~ Pavilion located adjacent to the Pinhook Lagoon, has been a very popular facility rental for many years. This past year the SBPRD installed air conditioning, replaced flee concrete catwalks around the building, replaced all the windows and doors, repaired wash out areas along the base of the facility, and completed numerous interior upgrades. This much needed facelift cost approximately $400,000.00 and will be very much appreciated by the thousands of people who will frequent this facility in the years to come. New protective glass shields, additional rock formations, more leisure water, and larger areas to roam were the outcomes of the new lion exhibit at Potawatomi Zoo. Opened to the public this past summer, the new lion exhibit proved to be a very popular stop for zoo patrons. The Potawatomi Zoological Society were largely -6-