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Grand Prairie staff propose membership increases at EPIC, keep youth fee after council input
Summary
Parks staff presented operational changes and a revised fee plan for the EPIC recreation center, proposing higher family and adult membership rates while council members asked to retain the youth rate at $19 a month; staff were given direction to proceed with the revised proposal.
City of Grand Prairie parks staff presented a revised operational and fee proposal for the EPIC recreation center at the Oct. 16 briefing, asking the council to consider higher membership prices and modest rental and concession changes to reduce the facility’s subsidy.
Ray Serta, Grand Prairie parks director, introduced the update and turned the presentation over to Christian App, general manager of the EPIC, and Daniel Cawthon, assistant general manager, who reviewed improvements already made, planned work for fiscal 2026 and proposed fee changes.
The presentation said staff plan to add market-style grab-and-go food and beverage vending and novelty items, funded at an estimated $135,000, and to renovate a youth programs room with CIP funding to better serve children ages 0–3. Christian App said staff will also rebrand the facility identifier from “the EPIC” to “Epic Rec” to reduce confusion with nearby venues.
On fees, staff proposed increasing family monthly membership from $49 to $59, adult individual monthly membership from $29 to $34 and youth membership from $19 to $24. Staff said lower-level rental-space increases would be expected to yield roughly $30,000 annually, while the larger share of additional revenue would come from membership changes. App said, “If this is approved, this will be, for the first time, since the EPIC's opening, we will be near the $1,000,000 subsidy mark.”
Council members questioned specifics and urged caution for younger users. Mayor Pro Tem proposed keeping the youth membership at $19 a month, saying, “If we could just comply with their suggestions, but keep the youth membership at the $19 a month, that's something I would like to propose a council to consider.” Council member Adams said she did not oppose that suggestion and supported the compromise approach staff brought back, saying the adjustments would help maintain the facility without hitting families too hard.
Staff also answered operational questions from council about pool-party rates and multipurpose room configurations. A staff member said the current fee for a shared pool-party booking with a party room is $200 for nonmembers and $175 for members; a fully private pool rental was described as $350. Staff explained that converting certain adjoining rooms (the presentation referred to one area as “Crompton's”) by removing a dividing wall could increase capacity from roughly 50 to about 75 for those combined rental spaces.
Council members gave staff direction to proceed with the revised proposal incorporating the lower-impact changes discussed during the briefing and to retain youth membership at the current $19 rate. No formal vote was taken at the briefing; staff said they would implement the direction and bring final fee changes to council for formal action as required.
The discussion included several operational clarifications—expected one-time and ongoing costs, the scope of the youth-room renovation and the projected revenue impacts from membership and rental adjustments—but did not result in an immediate ordinance or motion at the briefing session.
Council members thanked staff for finding what several described as a middle ground between larger proposed increases and the current subsidy level and directed staff to return with any items that require formal council approval.
