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CONCESSION CORNER

GO-KART TRACK OR FEC DESIGN: DOING IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME!
A Consultant’s Viewpoint By Peter F. Olesen, P.E.

Sounds easy, doesn’t it. Unfortunately, many people make a serious mistake in assuming either, they know everything, or that they don’t need to use consultants to steer them in the right direction. Failing to plan is planning to fail. You wouldn’t choose to perform an appendectomy on yourself, or to go into court without an attorney. Experienced consultants save their clients money by helping them avoid making major mistakes in selecting attractions, improper layout of their facility, creating a facility that is too costly for the available market and many other elements that can easily cost large amounts of money without bringing back sufficient revenue to avoid failure.

Don’t be mislead by free designs offered by manufacturers, they are primarily seeking to sell their products. Their primary concern is not that your facility be properly sized and have the best mix of attractions.

There are many instances where people have projected their revenues on advertising claims of annual sales, only to find out that these numbers could only be accomplished in major tourism centers. Most family entertainment centers are dependent upon local repeat guests. The local guests are far more selective in what they will visit on a repeat basis than are tourists that in many cases are seeking any diversion to fill up time gaps in their major vacation itinerary.

If you create the best attractions for your local guests, tourists will definitely visit them if they stop in your community and have time to visit your facility. That is if they see it or are easily directed to it by signage and/or information from innkeepers or other local business establishments. The vast majority of family entertainment centers are faced with the reality that tourism is a small element in their daily attendance. While it is important to attract as many tourists or other out of town visitors, the local population will be primary source of success or failure.

The physical location of a facility can definitely have a major impact on attendance. Many people choose not to go to new facilities if the route is difficult to follow. Today’s public loves convenience, be it in shopping, traveling or seeking entertainment. Selection of an easily accessed, easy to find location is imperative for success. Do not expect large attendance at a location requiring a road map to find. A reasonable location would be a maximum of one or two turns away from the major traffic arterial in the local community.

Being visible from a freeway doesn’t help if you can’t reach it within one or two turns after exiting the freeway. Many facilities have failed because they chose the visibility without considering the access.

Make certain your consultant has civil engineering expertise as well as attraction design experience. There are many site selection elements that require sound engineering judgment. This includes entrance design, emergency vehicle access, traffic engineering, drainage design, utilization of the existing topography, proper selection of construction specifications and related design and construction elements that are involved in the typical FEC. Note that this statement includes attraction design experience and expertise.

Selecting low priced sites in the middle of an industrial park that is basically closed for business in the evenings, poorly lit and ominous in appearance can be disastrous. People like to feel secure in their evening destinations.

Access from the local highways can be a problem in many instances, because of access control by the local transportation department. Local zoning may have restrictive ordinances controlling the type of development permitted. Others may restrict light, noise, parking, building offsets, storm water management, water use and related issues.

Selection of a consultant to walk your project through the “minefields” that exist in many communities is definitely a benefit. It can avoid selection of a site that is unsuitable for the project, provide guidance in selection of a suitable site, development of a facility that maximizes the potential for success and minimizes the costs to accomplish it.

A good consultant will utilize local expertise and professionals when such will benefit the client, while at the same time provide the expertise to develop the specialized attractions, building usages and site usage required for this very specialized industry.

Free plans for go-kart tracks and miniature golf courses may maximize the profit potential for the design-build firm or the kart manufacturer, but they certainly don’t maximize the potential for success of the final product. Not having the foresight to maximize your site’s potential by seeking bargain designs can result in major redesign and reconstruction costs to increase attendance and revenues. While some individuals may have the resources for correcting initial mistakes or poor selection of designs and construction approaches, most owners and operators do not have the luxury of being able to change directions “after the fact” without dire financial consequences.

There are a few consultants in the industry with sufficient experience and expertise to maximize your potential for success. Make use of them to enhance your own ability for success. Don’t assume that a consulting fee is a negative element in your ultimate balance sheet. A good consultant will save you money in the development of your physical site and assist you in gaining more knowledge to address your future success.

Good consultants work with manufacturers and suppliers to assure that the elements you add to your facility are the ones that will best meet your needs. There are many technical aspects of most entertainment attractions that can only be answered by the manufacturer’s technical personnel. Good manufacturers and suppliers recognize this and therefore will coordinate final selection products with the consultant.

It is this writer’s strong professional opinion that the wise developer of an FEC will recognize the benefit of having a professional consultant as a part of the project team from the start.
Select

Success depends on selecting the right mix of attractions. An owner should not base the design of his FEC on his/her personal preferences. Facilities succeed or fail; based on how well they attract repeated guest visits from their target market. Some attractions mix very well together, contributing to success, while others do not have mutual appeal and result in failure. A good consultant can describe why some attractions work very well while others don’t. This knowledge is gained through experience and observation over a long time. Take advantage of it.

Check out your consultant before hiring him/her. Does the consultant have satisfied customers? Did these clients feel they were given sound advice and options? Were they comfortable in discussing their project needs and the ultimate choices made. Was the consultant responsive to agency review comments, requests for clarification and consideration of contractor proposed construction options and alternatives during construction? Did the consultant have knowledge beyond the basics, including suggestions for marketing, staged upgrades, staffing and related issues beyond the immediate design? Were the customers satisfied with the final results and would they recommend the consultant.

The above comments scratch the surface, but there are many other elements that can be part of a successful client/consultant relationship.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Peter F. Olesen, P.E. is president of Peter F. Olesen and Associates, Inc., a firm with more than 20 years of experience in the design of family entertainment facilities, including more than 250 projects spanning 38 states, Brunei, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico. These services have included site selection, concept development, feasibility studies, master plans, final design, construction engineering and the renovation and upgrading of existing facilities for family entertainment centers, outdoor and indoor go-kart tracks, miniature golf courses, theme parks and other entertainment industry projects. You can get more information at www. olesen.com, pfolesen@ flash.net or 847-253-1515.

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