Portland, Tennessee Blog

what opened up in april for teens?

Interesting discussion. Something IS in the works for youths and will open in April. Be looking for that. It will be unique, both to the area and the region. Not a skating rink or bowling alley, though.

As to the discussion for skating rinks and bowling alleys, the financial outlay to get started cannot be supported at this time by Portland. Diffusion of the market share with surrounding areas will make it very difficult to succeed. Let's not fool ourselves. Several key businesses exist in surrounding towns already pulling some business from Portland. It has been my experience since moving here that Portland will continue to drive to those areas, for the most part. It is habit and cultural. It is true that initially (30-90 days) it may seem that such a facility would draw an adequate number of resources, but the upfront cost would take many years to even see a profit.

A new skating rink is opening in Gallatin. Another popular one exists near Rivergate. Several bowling alleys operate in Gallatin, Hendersonville, and Bowling Green.

Already, idea supporters are talking about prices for entry into a Portland facility, suggesting that those should be lower to reflect a lower income in Portland. However, the cost to build and maintain such a facility does not go down just because it is in Portland, along with personnel costs, and so forth. This means that no margin could be substantial enough to maintain an operation.

Given a choice, Portland residents will drive out of town, pay more, shop, eat, and so forth. They live here, sleep, raise families, keep pets in their back yards, go to church, and play ball. But when it gets time to shop, they "go to town". Likewise with entertainment. And they expect businesses to charge substantially less than anyone else for the same goods and services they get out of town, or they will continue to slip into their patterns and drive "to town".

As a business owner, I have seen this played out for years. It is unfortunate, but it is a reality many never see first hand.

How much would it cost the city to build a skateboard area in one of the parks? Maybe they could take donations to make this happen.

Hello,
1. I do remember the little arcade that was located across the street from Subway not long ago. I believe it closed due to it having an environment mainly set for teenagers. Plus the size and location might have had an impact. It was small and not a lot of people could come in. The location was on a corner right there at the red light. There was hardly any room for parking, and it being at a busy intersection didn't make it safe for people to walk to. Don't get me wrong though, it was a good idea, but it needed some adjustments.
2. I think prices should be adjusted to the Portland residents' income. A lot of people work in the industrial warehouses where pay is not that great. Of couse, I'm not saying that an entertainment center should come in and charge less here than in other places of its business, but Portland cannot afford to pay high prices for entertainment.
3. A variety of entertainment in one building would be great. I agree with other people about having a bowling alley or a skating rink as entertainment. Something that keeps people active like that is a great idea, plus there are other activities you can have fun with. I have a 2 year old, so if we had an alley or rink I would like to see an area inside for the younger children, like a small play area. A play area that had some thought put into it, not just some toys thrown into a big corner.
Even though it may not be an option what about a civic center? I know a lot of people in Portland that would like to see some sort exercise/gym building come to town. Plus, a civic center has other enjoyable activities for almost all ages.
Thanks for asking,
Angela

I would love to see all of this come to Portland. I am in a unique position because I have a 5 year old and a 17 year old. A building such as where the new IGA is would be perfect for a 10-lane bowling alley. I love to skate and a skating rink could bring in money during the day by offering lunch-time fitness skates for the adults and skate-times specifically for the pre-schoolers who tend to get run over by the older kids.

The key to opening businesses like this is to study the business from the inside. Pick the brains of current owners of skating rinks, batting cages, arcades, putt-putt courses.

To respond to the comment about skating rink being unsupervised activities.......... Other skating rinks have adult people who work there, such as concession stand workers, ticket person, skate rental person, dj, and the good ones have a floor guard that makes sure the kids are being supervised. A skating rink would bring in a few jobs to Portland, give toddlers up to adults somthing to do. A lot of people love to skate, but not everyone skateboards, wonder how many people from Westmoreland would come to skate in Portland instead making the drive to Ky. or Rivergate area? I think a skating rink would be great. Good fun, lots of exercise , place for birthday parties, and good for all ages.

I would love to see a skating rink in Portland. I'm a mother of three and all my children love to skate, including myself. Every Saturday night I take my children along with a few of their friends to Hendersonville to skate. It's 5.00 a person to skate from open to close, there is also an arcade in there, and a snack bar. Skating is good exercise, a place for kids of all ages, including adults. This is somthing families could do together, or if the kids just want to go with friends they would be able to that as well. Children here in Portland have nothing to do, they hang out in parking lots, vandalize, sit at home compaining, or go to rivergate n other local areas. Golf and other activities suggested are great, but lets try and focus on the children , somthing that can be done as a family, or just with friends, somthing that toddlers all the way up to adults could do. How many children do you think would be out playing golf, or how many preschoolers would you see benifiting from a driving range? We need somthing for all the children not just a select few, and somthing that will be fun, as well as get them up moving and exercising.

I think that we should have a skate park built here in Portland. I, myself, do not skate but I am a high school student. You wouldn't belive how many skateboarders there are here in Portland. There are some that are actually really good but they keep getting stopped by the police for skating. There is no where here in Portland for teens to just hang out and skate. They get really upset about having to go to Nashville on the weekends to skate. For most of them, skating is their only way to get around other than walking. They all can't get to Nashville because they have no way. Parents don't want to drive their kids to Nashville everyday just so they can skate. Parents also don't want to drive them down there because of gas prices. People can't afford to go to Nashville all the time to skate. It would make a lot of the teenagers happier. That would be an excellent business to withstand here in Portland. Please, thake this into consideration. It would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Miranda

I like the idea of a bowling alley. There the whole family can participate in bowling, aracade games, birthday parties, etc. I don't think they would have to serve beer to make the place profitable. My whole family loves to bowl and this includes the grandkids. We stopped going to the bowling center in Gallatin because of all the unsupervised kids that were there cussing and being very disrespectful to adults. This was over a year ago so I do not know if it has improved or not.

These are very complicated and complex issues; however, I feel that we are missing the bigger picture. It’s not about Ponderosa closing or more fast food restaurants [as discussed in other blogs] or putt-putts for that matter, it’s about “quality-of-life”. Portland is no different than other towns or cities of similar size. Everyone is looking for that something to boost the local economy or to give the kids in the community something to do. This one item haunts my very dreams at night, because it’s used over and over and over in every discussion I’ve ever had regarding planning in a small or rural community. We have to understand that it has more to do with the function of the overall economy, the location and the socio-economics of each individual community. I know this may sound self-serving, but good planning is the one way to help these things. Better planning efforts will allow for more appropriate locations for cultural and entertainment activities. Better planning will allow for high paying jobs to be created within the community; so that you aren’t on the road commuting to work for long hours. This in turn would allow more of us to stay closer to home, be more involved in our kid’s day to day activities and help create a better sense of “community”…I know that sounds like a line from the Hillary Clinton book It Takes a Village, but it’s true.

Good planning can help guide local entrepreneurs by providing appropriate locations and not allowing for the over expansion of commercial, residential or industrial land uses. Diversity and a careful balance of land uses are the keys to success for any community. As my mom once told me; “you can’t live just on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches”...and you know what, she’s right. A roller-rink or bowling alley won’t save the day, but good planning will allow for those uses to be carefully guided so that all in the community can benefit. All these items and more shold be openly discussed and debated. I can understand how some get frustrated with government bodies because they think that we don't do anything...but a lot of it is that the people never tell you what they want. The community at-large had an opportunity to openly discuss and debate land use issues that could impact some of these items we ahve discussed; but hardly anyone came. Good planning also requires just that everyday, ordinary person to get involved so that your local governing bodies can help design and plan for the future. If you ever have an idea that you think might help us plan our community better, please let me know. I would love to here from you.

Just my two cents...

Jonathan
jbritt@cityofportlandtn.gov

1.) If any of you went to any of the old arcades, the miniature golf place where the pole barn place is now, or any of the other places that started up and failed, what are your opinions concerning why they failed?

I agree with Previous post. It must be family friendly to make it in Portland. In the past everything has been geared more to teens. The putt putt place may have came and gone before it's time, but something of that nature must adapt to it's surrounding. What do I mean by this? They may have to serve hot meals/cater during the day and try more for the kid crowd at night. Just not enough kids in this town to MAKE PROFIT and that is why everyone owns/operates business. I’m not sure what would be successful in Portland. It is very difficult to start a business and even more difficult to keep it operating while making a profit. With that being said I believe a Bowling Alley would benefit Portland the most out the places mentioned above. Why? Well a Bowling Alley could offer entertainment for all ages. Arcades for the kids, Bowling Leagues for the Adults, and Food for everyone:) Only problem is there is one more component you will find at MOST successful Bowling Alleys and I doubt it would be allowed in Portland at this point. Draft Beer? Personally, I know this is a touchy subject for a lot of people, but facts are facts. How many PROFITABLE bowling alleys have you been to who do not have draft beer?

2.) What do you think fair market price is per game if a bowling alley came to Portland, or a miniature golf place, or some sort of club that required a cover charge.

If I could charge you $2.50 to bowl a game, or $5 to play putt putt and have the volume to keep it at that price I believe it would be fair, but if not many people came, I would be forced to raise prices, but food is where I would make money.

3.) If you could have your choice of one thing to come to Portland for the kids to do, what would it be?

Two things.. Arcade/Driving Range (I would benefit too!) Or possibly in the near future a movie theatre. Not a massive one, but I believe Lafayette has a small one-screen theatre that has been open for years.

4.) What kind of activities would you do with your kids if it were available in Portland?

Kinda hard for me to answer, my kid is only 5 months old, but I know if I could go hit golf balls while he and his mom played games that would be cool.

Yes i remember the Dairy Dip. This is where i met my wife Diane. We both worked for Wayne many years ago. I used to work in the skating rink and the resturant. I also remember the original skating rink there with the wooden floors and i remember 2 arcades. Alot of young people came but also it was a place for unsupervised conduct that led to many bad situations.
The safest environments for youth have to be structured and somewhat supervised.
A civic center that provided healthy activities late into the night would be helpful.
Remember, it is hard for teens alone to support a place financially. If you can combine a youth "hang-out" with family oriented activities, than you have a chance to sustain that place.
For example, an indoor put-put / arcade / batting cage, could atract many different ages all year long.
I too wish for a solution.
Alderman Callis