The city of Sedona has released the second online survey in its ongoing process to create the new Western Gateway master plan for the city-owned former Sedona Cultural Park site.

The survey introduction explains that the city has decided to include open space and housing — the top priorities in the first survey — in the master plan and that the second survey will determine which community amenities will be incorporated in the planning. It includes questions on parks, parking, a recreation center and the restoration of the park’s Georgia Frontiere Performing Arts Pavilion.

During the first public meeting for the master plan, the second-ranked priority for the site among residents was a recreation center, which the survey text describes as “strong support.” The survey asks residents if there is a need for a recreation center in Sedona, if they would support city expenditures on a recreation center that could raise taxes, what the most appropriate location for a recreation center would be, what facilities should be incorporated and whether they would support user fees for a recreation center.

The recreation center questions also ask residents to specify which elements they would like to see included within a recreation center, such as gymnasiums, courts, fitness equipment, fitness classes, a climbing wall and an indoor or outdoor pool. The Sedona-Oak Creek School District has an existing eight-lane outdoor pool run by the city at Posse Grounds Park that was used by 6,898 people in fiscal year 2023.

The option to build a community center at the Cultural Park, which received less support, has been dropped from the survey as a separate amenity, but the second survey asks residents to specify which community center-type facilities they would like to see incorporated into a recreation center, such as community rooms, a computer room or a business center.

Sedona City Councilman Brian Fultz previously called for the survey to include cost comparisons for proposed amenities. For the recreation center, the survey offers four examples of construction costs for recreation centers built elsewhere in Arizona: Cottonwood, at 53,000 square feet and $17 million; Casa Grande, at 50,000 square feet and $18.2 million; Sahuarita, at 54,000 and $48.6 million; and Marana, at 108,000 square feet and $45.6 million.

The third-ranked community amenity during the first public meeting was restoration of the park’s amphitheater as a performance venue. The survey describes this ranking as “a mix of opinions” and asks respondents to comment on whether Sedona needs a larger outdoor venue than the 300-seat Posse Grounds Pavilion, if the Cultural Park or the Dells is the best location for such a venue, if they would support “future city expenditures for an amphitheater that could result in increased taxes” and if they would support “frequent events.”

For comparison, the survey includes three examples of 5,000 to 5,500-seat venues currently under construction in Illinois, Texas and Florida, similar to the existing 5,350-seat Georgia Frontiere Performing Arts Pavilion at the Cultural Park, and cites build costs of $12 million, $64 million and $44.8 million for these, giving respondents an idea of the value of the extant facility.

The survey also states that “if an amphitheater [to original size of 5,500 seats] is built at the Western Gateway, it will utilize most of the property.” The existing amphitheater occupies about 131,000 square feet, or just over three acres, of the 41-acre property.

The survey further states that “to ensure the amphitheater’s profitability, it would likely need to frequently host large events, which could draw additional visitors to the community, potentially resulting in increased traffic” without providing traffic data.

The Sedona Cultural Park 2.0 nonprofit has proposed reopening the park under a public-private partnership with the city that would not involve any city funding contribution.

The fourth-ranked option to emerge from the first public meeting, which the survey describes as “strong support,” was a community park, and the survey asks residents whether they want to have part of the Cultural Park — which is currently designated as a city park — preserved as a city park, as well as what type of park they would prefer.

Additional survey questions enquire whether respondents would support the city partnering with the U.S. Forest Service to expand the Cultural Park area trailheads, or the consolidation of transit parking at the Cultural Park.

The Sedona Cultural Park/Western Gateway survey will run through Sunday, Jan. 19, at plansedona.com. A second public meeting on the master planning process is currently scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 6.