Innovative Indoor Recreational Facilities

Our highlight of potential applications of WeatherPort^® Shelter Systems, from Alaska Structures® touched on our popular sports facilities, so we wanted to go further and explain more about the ways sports teams, schools, community centers, and cities are using WeatherPort sports facilities for their recreational activities and events.

Benefits of Recreational Facilities

Here are several benefits of recreational facilities, and why WeatherPort is the right choice for building those facilities.

Benefits of Physical Activity

Public recreation areas offer communities a place to meet the national physical activity guidelines of at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) for adults and 60 minutes of MVPA for children and teens.

Moving the body benefits cardiovascular and musculoskeletal strength. Inactivity is believed to be responsible for many ills, including:

Hypertension
Heart Disease
Stroke
Type 2 diabetes
Breast and colon cancer

Societal Benefits of Recreational Facilities

Physical benefits aside, communities that have recreational facilities to host social events, recreational activities, and meetings have been shown to help strengthen bonds and build relationships. People are more likely to help others when a sense of community connects them.

Economic Benefits of Recreational Facilities

The economic health of a city can improve with the addition of recreational facilities.

For example, the mayor of a Florida city decided, during a recession, to redevelop a park with the intention of revitalizing its downtown area. The result of the investment was that it not only drew people to the park, but to the surrounding downtown area as well. New restaurants and stores opened in the wake of this resurgence, and the city is now more financially stable.

The Need for Innovative Recreational Facilities

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports in their 2018 National Health Statistics Report that only 23 percent of adults met the national physical activity guidelines. Some of the reasons that people stay inactive are:

They don’t like to exercise in the cold or heat.
They don’t like to exercise in the rain.
They don’t want to go out when it is dark and cold.

If the goal is to motivate people to become more active, some innovative thinking may be necessary to get them moving. In a recent NRPA poll, adults over the age of 18 say they want their local recreation centers to offer more nontraditional services, including:

Classes
Programs for older adults
Nature-based activities
Computer and internet access
Health clinics
Inclusivity for all abilities and needs

While a park is not always feasible or even necessary, a place for people to stay active, recreate, and build a greater sense of community is a valuable asset. The point is to provide a particular community — be it a school, an organization like the YMCA, city parks, or the recreation department — with unique, accessible, and safe places to gather and be active.

Some innovative ideas for indoor recreational facilities include:

Give indoor training facilities and recreation facilities a sense of the outdoors by lining the interior with plants.
Combine a kids’ play zone with a yoga space for adults.
Provide community services for at-risk kids with an on-site bowling alley or climbing walls.
House physical therapy services under the same roof as an indoor pool.
Create weight training facilities for schools with limited budgets and space.
Blend mind and body wellness with a meditation space that offers cooking classes.
Build a base camp with exercise facilities for mountain climbers waiting out inclement weather.

The only thing limiting these building choices is the imagination of the planners.

The Benefits of Choosing WeatherPort for Sports and Recreational Facilities

So when you’re ready to build an indoor sports facility, why not buy the best?

WeatherPort creates shelter systems that are uniquely suited for a wide range of athletic and recreational applications. Sports teams, schools, communities and worksite camps around the world use our rugged and attractive fabric structures as gymnasiums, arenas, practice facilities, pool enclosures, horse riding arenas, fair grounds, and community recreation centers.

WeatherPort fabric buildings have been trusted to provide comfortable, appealing, and effective shelter systems for over 50 years. We’ve grown our business to provide more industries with our reliable fabric structures and the response has been staggering.

Tensioned fabric structures have many advantages over traditional wood, brick, concrete, or metal buildings.

Read on to learn about the benefits and features of WeatherPort engineered fabric buildings for sports and recreational facilities.

Quick, Economical Construction

Unlike metal, wood, or brick-and-mortar buildings, WeatherPort’s fabric structures can be installed quickly and economically on a variety of surfaces and foundations.

Our indoor sports and training facilities also require less site preparation than traditional structures, which helps reduce build times and construction costs. Your WeatherPort structure can be up and running in days or weeks, not months or more.

Strength and Safety

Maybe you have some concerns about choosing a rugged fabric building over facilities made of traditional construction materials. Perhaps you think of cheap canvas products when you imagine that a fabric shelter system can’t match the ruggedness of those old-school buildings.

It’s a common misconception.

Think about the gyms and rec centers you’ve seen. Their massive support systems have to be strong enough to hold up heavy roofs as well as snow loads, drenching rains and the pressure that strong winds add. Those roofs also can rust or rot, causing them to leak or fail.

When you choose a WeatherPort structure, you’re investing in a fully engineered building that meets or exceeds codes for snow loads and inclement weather. Our robust PVC fabrics are lightweight and don’t leak, rust, or rot. Our high-strength, heavy gable and truss gable architectural support systems have been field-tested for safe, reliable use in extreme climates and inclement weather.

Maximum Interior Space and Accessibility

Unlike many gyms, physical therapy centers, and rec centers that still use antiquated engineering and designs, WeatherPort fabric buildings have open span support systems that maximize interior space without the need for internal columns that block sightlines and otherwise get in the way.

We also offer straight wall options for increased structure height. Our high-strength metal frames can safely support such hanging loads as scoreboards, ducts, lights, basketball backboards, and more.

Since a traditional concrete foundation and supporting poles are not necessary, you can make your indoor recreation facilities and community event pavilions accessible to all people, allowing room for wheelchairs, scooters, and other mobility aids.

Unmatched Customization and Versatility

We can also design your new sports facility to be just as unique as your community. We can add partitions for increased storage space, commercial kitchens, restrooms, concession areas, retail shops, windows, extra doors, and more. You can even add custom graphics and logos to promote your school, business, organization or sponsors.

We use the highest-quality materials to design the longest-lasting fabric structures available. It’s not uncommon for customers to contact us 10, 20, or 30+ years later saying they are still using their WeatherPort structure!

Energy Efficiency and Comfort

WeatherPort indoor sports facilities offer industry-leading energy efficiency, a benefit that saves you money. Fabric building interiors generally are 15°F cooler than hot outdoor temperatures and 15°F warmer than frigid outdoor temps. We can design fabric buildings with proprietary insulation packages up to any R-value you desire.

In addition to equipping indoor recreation facilities with energy-saving insulation systems, all our building systems can be custom-designed and outfitted with HVAC and air distribution systems.

Low Maintenance Costs

Fabric structures require little to no maintenance during their life cycles, which last can last for decades depending on their environments.

Our PVC fabrics don’t rust, resist mold, are easy to clean and rugged enough to resist ripping, tearing or flapping. You never have to add a coat of paint to a WeatherPort structure, and our ventilation options ensure you won’t have to worry about musty odors found in older facilities.

Contact Us Today to Design a Recreational Facility

WeatherPort® is a brand of high-quality fabric buildings from Alaska Structures®. Our friendly building specialists will help you turn your recreational facility concept into a reality. Our engineered fabric buildings can turn any outdoor or seasonal activity into an activity that is enjoyed year-round and protected from the weather!

Get in touch with one of our expert team members today to get started!

Call: +1-970-399-5909

Email: info@weatherport.com

Online Inquiry: contact form