Ready … aim … paintball! The city of Palm Bay turned a community paintballing problem into a major park money-maker

Parks & Recreation, Oct, 2004 by Steve Riser

To cover any potential problems that do arise, the city has a separate liability insurance policy to cover the operations at Hurricane Paintball Park, obtained through the national association for the sport, the American Paintball League. All players must sign a waiver prior to playing at the facility and players under the age of 18 must have the waiver signed by a parent or guardian. Waivers are required for each use of the facility for all players. The department does not permit children under 10 years old to utilize this facility during open play hours, but does schedule separate times for the younger children to play. Additionally, legislation was enacted by the State of Florida in 2004 adding municipally operated paintball parks to the liability law limits already in place, which shield cities from injury liability for activities associated with municipal skatepark operation.

Although the city created a place for paintballers to play, covering equipment costs became the next obstacle to overcome. To solve the problem, the city contracted with all outside vendor to provide equipment packages for those needing to rent the equipment necessary to play, including the marker, face shield, paintballs and air supply needed to enjoy the game. The vendor additionally assists the parks and recreation department staff with the inspection of all individually-owned equipment used at the facility, to insure that all equipment meets the required safety regulations.

Additionally, with the exception of the special 24-hour scenario games and tournaments, players are permitted to "BYOP" (Bring Your Own Paintballs) purchased from other sources. Most private paintball parks require the purchase of field paint at the site--the vendor contracted by the city offers field paints at prices, which are competitive to other sources, but players aren't required to buy the paint there.

When the Parks and Recreation Department staff first considered the operation of the Hurricane Paintball Park, there was no indication of the possible revenue generation from this type of facility--the department simply wanted to respond to an unsafe situation present in the community. Once the paintball park opened, it was quickly apparent that this facility was one that the community truly needed.

The FY 2004/2005 budgeted revenue for Hurricane Paintball Park is $130,000, while expenses (part-time staff and supplies) are budgeted for only $50,000. It is anticipated that the balance will be utilized to make additional capital improvements at the facility. The generation of this additional revenue from former trespassers, who are now volunteers and patrons, assists the department with its total mission of providing recreation programs for the total community.

Palm Bay resident and avid paintball enthusiast, Troy Palmer says "I've played since 1982 and traveled as far as Europe to play at tournaments. The fun thing about it is that, no matter what age or how athletic you are, you can play. It promotes a lot of team work, and I play it with my son, and it builds camaraderie between me and him."