• 1: Home
• 2: Donate Now
• 3: Friends of the WMAF
• 4: In the News
  • 4.1: Great Spirit Fundraiser
  • 4.2: Record Swim
  • 4.3: Ironman Jim
• 5: Letters of Support
• 6: Board
• 9: Feasibility Study

Feasibility Studies:

What Are They? Why Are They Necessary?

The White Mountain Aquatic Foundation is seeking funding to finance a feasibility study. So, what does this mean and why is one needed?

A feasibility study is performed by an outside organization. In the case of the pool project, that company would be a specialist in the evaluation of aquatic center projects. For our project to be able to advance, we have to have such a study conducted. There can be no capital campaign, no design phase, no grand opening without a professional firm spending several months and several thousand dollars to provide us an unbiased assessment of our proposed project.

A simple definition of a feasibility study is that it provides information and analyses for thoughtful discussions and decision making. But the real situation is a lot more complex than that. This particular study seeks to answer basic questions like: Should we proceed with the pool project? Does the return justify the risks? Is the project viable? Does the project have a place in our community and will it serve a need?

A feasibility study also provides information based on a specific set of assumptions for evaluating the potential success of a project. This includes technologies, needs and use, service area and finances. A feasibility study is not a business plan. It represents a narrowing of alternatives allowing the organization to focus on the best options.

A feasibility study can provide many benefits for a project. Among these are:

• giving the project focus
• narrowing the alternatives to be considered
• possible identification of otherwise unknown opportunities
• enhancement of the probability of success by addressing and mitigating factors early on that could affect the project
• providing information for quality decision making
• providing documentation that the project was thoroughly investigated
• helping to increase investment in the project
• increasing the possibility of securing funding from lending institutions and other sources

Additionally, a feasibility study usually consists of multiple components. These may include:

• defining the project
• market analysis
• facility and technology
• programming
• financial feasibility
• management
• potential partnerships
• feasibility
• what are the next steps towards success

These components are broad categories that contain many parts. Among these parts are potential locations for the project, analysis of known competitors, market analysis and market potential, community background, demographics and needs. The components also usually include a conceptual design process that proposes what the facility might look like and also identifies the basic programmatic elements of the business in association with their space needs and spatial relationships to each other within the conceptual plan. The study can also examine multiple building technologies which would include "green" building options.

The costs of feasibility studies vary depending on the needs and scope of the project. Usually studies for a project such as we propose will run from $25,000 to $50,000. Typically these studies take from four to nine months, from the initial project definition to the final presentation.

The information presented here is derived from a presentation by Wallover Architects of Lancaster, PA at the USA Swimming Facilities Development "Build a Pool" Conference, April 2008.