Parks & Recreation February 2018

FEBRUARY 2018 W W W. N R PA . O R G

2018 TRENDS

‘Access for All’ in Oregon | Local Officials’ Perceptions of Parks | Designing Effective RFPs

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contents february 2018 volume 53 | number 2 | www.parksandrecreation.org

38 Top Trends in Parks and Recreation for 2018 This somewhat tongue-in-cheek yet insightful exercise in prognostication has become an annual tradition for NRPA. This year’s predictions cover a gamut of topics, from the serious — conversions of park property to non-park uses — to the innovative — anaerobic digesters in dog parks — learn what the year ahead could hold for parks and recreation.

46 Designing Effective RFPs for Live

Entertainment Events and Venues RFPs are a common way to seek out qualified developers, operators, promoters and programmers with respect to publicly owned or presented concerts, music festivals and entertainment venues.

Attention to detail is essential no matter the scale.

Adam Friedman

Richard J. Dolesh

42 Collaboration: The Key to Development of Oregon’s Mountain View Champions Park Many in Greater Portland’s diverse needs community see Mountain View as a model for all-abilities facilities.

Journey with the Tualatin Hills Parks and Recreation District, as it engages with a new set of partners to take this project from a modest watercolor sketch of a baseball diamond to an amazing play space for all.

Chris Santella

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50 The Great Recession’s Profound Impact

on Parks and Recreation A recent study, commissioned by NRPA and conducted by a team of Pennsylvania State University (PSU) researchers, provides some important insight about how local government officials perceive parks and recreation and what park and recreation professionals must do to begin reshaping that perception.

Nicholas Pitas, Ph.D., Austin Barrett, Ph.D., Andrew Mowen, Ph.D., and Kevin Roth, Ph.D.

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contents february

columns 8 Perspectives

departments

Passing the Baton Leon T. Andrews, Jr.

10 Editor’s Letter

12 Research

Parks and Rec Up Close Gina Mullins-Cohen

Inclusion in Parks and Recreation 12 Park Pulse: Healthy Eating 14

24 Advocacy The Negative Impact of Higher Entrance Fees at National Parks Jackie Ostfeld and Kyle Simpson

16 Community Center Green Stormwater Infrastructure

20 Member to Member

26 Law Review Public Park Dedication Evident in LWCF Grant James C. Kozlowski, J.D., Ph.D.

‘Tripping’ with the Western DuPage Special Recreation Association

56 NRPA Update

32 Conservation

It’s Your Time to Shine 56

Promoting Active Transportation in El Paso Katharine Burgess and Leah Sheppard

NRPA Connect Networks 57 #MoveWithHeart During American Heart Month 58 NRPA Provides Microgrant Funding 59

34 Health and Wellness Healthy Detroit: Building a Culture of Primary Prevention Maureen Acquino

Member Spotlight: Greg Brown 60 Connect Hot Topics 61 Member Benefit: Networking Made Easy 61 Parks & Recreation Crossword 62

36 Social Equity Applying a Racial Equity Lens to Our Parks Alec Weis, Julie Nelson, Jennifer Ringold, Art Hendricks and Jules Posadas

Professional Development Calendar 63

64 Operations Some Innovative Playground Design Trends and Fundraising Resources Faith Munsell

66 Products 66 Park Essentials 71 Advertiser Index

Good Lookin’ Out Alsip Sonia Myrick

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Portland Parks & Recreation

72 Park Bench

Page 36

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P E R S P E C T I V E S A M E S S A G E F R O M N R PA’ S L E A D E R S

Passing the Baton In the five months since becoming NRPA chair, I’ve had the opportunity to discuss two subjects about which I’m very passionate — park equity and the future of parks, particularly as it relates to the development of young park and rec professionals.

Prior to being appointed director for Race, Equity And Leadership (REAL) at the National League of Cities, I served as the senior fellow and program director of the NLCs’ Institute for Youth, Education and Families. In that role, I worked with mayors and other municipal leaders around the country in areas related to childhood obesity, disconnected youth, youth engagement and leadership, and youth master planning.

In my conversations with young park and rec professionals, I hear their excitement and concerns about the future of this field and this profession. I share their passion and commitment to social equity, ensuring everyone has access to a great park. This generation has come of age in a time when the pace of change and the “new normal” occur at lightning speed. They know that what was the norm for their parents’ generation — pensions that often included long-term healthcare plans, 401(k)s, etc. — will not be available to them. They understand the challenges they and their families will face and have many ideas about how to meet those challenges. They are ready to step into leadership roles, and we need to do more to create pathways that allow them to do so.

Age is no determiner of leadership ability. Last month, we celebrated the birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King, one of the most prominent leaders in our country during the civil rights movement from the mid-1950s to 1968, was 39 years old when he was assassinated. He was 34 when he led the March on Washington on August 28, 1963, and just a year later, the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. The Honorable John Lewis, U.S. Congressman from the state of Georgia, was also part of that youthful leadership during this time that played a critical role in changing the trajectory of our country’s laws and policies. But, as I talk with young professionals across the country, including those in parks and rec, I see that same passion and commitment to be social justice and social equity leaders.

The examples of Dr. King and Congressman Lewis remind us of the importance of bold and courageous leadership. I believe our young professionals are ready to demonstrate this kind of leadership and to engage and lead on issues of social justice. I look forward to finding more ways during my year as chair to create more platforms to elevate their voices, now.

The reality is that, more and more, park and rec agencies are being called on to address the overall health and well-being of their communities and expected to do so with limited resources. To help meet these needs, NRPA is seeking the help of individual donors to advance our work. Stay tuned for more information about this effort — including ways you can get involved...because everyone deserves a great park!

In the meantime, I encourage you to be more intentional about elevating the voices, roles and opportunities for young park and rec professionals. We need to be committed to passing the baton and creating opportunities for our young professionals to be bold and courageous, now more than ever!

LEO N T. AN D R E WS, J R .

Chair of the Board of Directors 8

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2377 Belmont Ridge Rd. | Ashburn, VA 20148 2 703.858.0784 | www.nrpa.org

NRPA’S MISSION: To advance parks, recreation and environmental conservation efforts that enhance the quality of life for all people.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Roslyn Johnson

Chair of the Board of Directors Leon T. Andrews, Jr.

Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission Greenbelt, Maryland

National League of Cities Washington, D.C.

Chair-Elect Jack Kardys Miami-Dade Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Department Miami, Florida

Past Chair Stephen Eckelberry Bartlett Park District Bartlett, Illinois

Treasurer Michael Kelly Chicago Park District Chicago, Illinois

Jack Kardys Miami-Dade Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Department Miami, Florida

Michael Kelly Chicago Park District Chicago, Illinois

Karen Bates Kress Park Advocate Emigrant, Montana

Herman Parker City of San Diego, California, Park and Recreation Department San Diego, California

Ian Proud

Secretary Jesús Aguirre

PlayPower Williamsport, Pennsylvania

Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation Seattle, Washington

Molly Stevens

President and CEO Barbara Tulipane, CAE National Recreation and Park Association Ashburn, Virginia

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Michael Abbaté, FASLA City of Portland Parks and Recreation Portland, Oregon

Westcave Outdoor Discovery Center Austin, Texas

Nonet T. Sykes The Annie E. Casey Foundation Baltimore, Maryland

Xavier Urrutia City of San Antonio Parks and Recreation San Antonio, Texas Alliance for a Healthier Generation New York, New York

Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation Seattle, Washington

LIFE TRUSTEES Beverly D. Chrisman

National League of Cities Washington, D.C.

Neelay Bhatt PROS Consulting Indianapolis, Indiana

Hayden Brooks

Lexington, South Carolina

Anne S. Close Fort Mill, South Carolina

James H. Evans New York, New York

Rosemary Hall Evans Sugar Hill, New Hampshire

American Realty Corporation Austin, Texas

Earl T. Groves

Kong Chang

Charles E. Hartsoe, Ph.D.

City of Saint Paul Parks and Recreation Saint Paul, Minnesota

Kevin Coyle

Gastonia, North Carolina Richmond, Virginia

Harry G. Haskell

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Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania

National Wildlife Federation Washington, D.C.

Kathryn A. Porter

Stephen Eckelberry

Perry J. Segura

Bartlett Park District Carol Stream, Illinois

New Iberia, Louisiana

Richard Gulley

Round Hill, Virginia

Balboa Park Conservancy San Diego, California

Eugene A. Young, CPRP

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Dr. Howell Wechsler

Jesús Aguirre

Leon T. Andrews, Jr.

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Mendham, New Jersey

R. Dean Tice

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

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EDITOR’S LET TER

Parks and Rec Up Close As the new year unfolds, it’s not uncommon for park and recreation professionals to ask themselves: “What will the next 12 months bring?” Too bad it’s not as simple as shaking a Magic 8 Ball or breaking open a fortune cookie for the answers. Instead, we rely on research and industry forecasts to identify the trends in parks and recreation that will have the most impact on our operations and enable us to make better, informed decisions.

In our cover story, on page 38, “Top Trends in Parks and Recreation for 2018,” NRPA’s vice president of strategic initiatives, Richard Dolesh, puts on his prognosticator’s hat to identify key trends in our field. Dolesh touches on everything, from underground parks and drones to fourlegged creatures invading our green spaces.

Sometimes the best way to move forward is to learn from the past. The article, “The Great Recession’s Profound Impact on Parks and Recreation,” on page 50, by researchers Nicholas Pitas, Austin Barrett, Andrew Mowen and NRPA’s vice president of research, Kevin Roth, discusses how the Great Recession of 2008 and 2009 hit park and recreation agencies the hardest by forcing local governments to dramatically cut their budgets. Fast-forward nearly 10 years and the industry is still slowly recovering. What’s more, our industry experts break down the numbers to provide professionals with a clearer picture of the industry’s state of affairs.

Next, on page 42, writer Chris Santella looks at how Tualatin Hills Parks and Recreation District successfully planned and built an “All Access” park for its community in the article, “Collaboration: The Key to Development of Oregon’s Mountain View Champions Park.”

Also included with this issue, of Parks & Recreation, is a copy of the 2018 Aquatics Guide, where you will discover helpful articles, with featured topics ranging from the four things in aquatics that need to change, to key tips for water facility operators during the winter, to the secrets to pristine pool water. If you are in charge of your agency’s aquatics operation and you’re preparing for the upcoming season, be sure to take a look at this valuable resource.

GINA MULLINS-COHEN Vice President of Marketing, Communications and Publishing Editorial Director

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PRESIDENT AND CEO Barbara Tulipane, CAE VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING, COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLISHING, AND EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Gina Mullins-Cohen gcohen@nrpa.org EXECUTIVE EDITOR Sonia Myrick smyrick@nrpa.org EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTOR Catrina Belt cbelt@nrpa.org PUBLICATION DESIGN Creative By Design www.creativebydesign.net SENIOR SALES MANAGER EASTERN REGION AND EUROPE Kip Ongstad 703.858.2174 kongstad@nrpa.org SALES MANAGER WESTERN REGION AND ASIA Michelle Dellner 949.248.1057 mdellner@nrpa.org MAGAZINE ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS Keith Anderson Gerald Brown Ernest Burkeen Brendan Daley Anthony-Paul Diaz Ryan Eaker Robert García Kathleen Gibi Sandra Gonzales Tim Herd Brian Johnson Todd Lehman Sam Mendelsohn Maria Nardi Lisa Paradis Gil Peñalosa Vic Richard Dr. Kevin Riley Karla Rivera Paula Sliefert Anne-Marie Spencer Stephen Springs Randy Wiger

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Research Inclusion in Parks and Recreation

By Kevin Roth, Ph.D.

P

ark and recreation agencies want all members of the community to have an equal opportunity to benefit from all that they offer. Unfortunately, many agencies face significant challenges in delivering on this promise. In some cases, they have limited monetary and staffing resources that make it difficult to serve those who may benefit the most from quality park and recreation services. In other cases, they lack a clear understanding of the needs and desires of members of their city, town or county.

As part of its new Parks for Inclusion initiative, NRPA is supporting the development of resources, professional development opportunities and technical assistance that will help park and recreation professionals serve every member of their community. We recently surveyed agencies across the United States about what they do to ensure all their community members can enjoy parks and recreation. The 26-question survey, conducted in September 2017, generated responses from 512 park and recreation professionals.

Outreach to Specific Populations The survey found that while park and recreation professionals may serve diverse populations with differing needs and desires, they share a commonality on how they define “inclusion” for parks and recreation.

They agree that their facilities, offerings

12 Parks & Recreation

and services should be accessible to people of all backgrounds, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic position or physical/cognitive ability. And, to that end, park and recreation agencies design and market facilities, programming and activities targeted to specific populations that otherwise may be underserved.

Many agencies target programming to serve individuals with a physical or cognitive disability. Seventy-four percent of park and recreation agencies develop programming and activities that serve community members who have a physical disability, while 62 percent do the same to serve individuals with a cognitive disability. Furthermore, 7 in 10 agencies target programming and activities to community members who are part of a multicultural, racial or ethnic group.

What is less common among park and recreation agencies is programming that is specifically for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) community. Currently, only 30 percent of agencies deliver programs targeted to this population. Another area of growing need for park and recreation programming is for refugee and immigrant community members. Only 27 percent of responding agencies report targeting

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these new Americans.

Some park and recreation agencies are more likely to offer inclusive programming and activities targeted to segments of their community. For example, suburban agencies and those that are part of a county government are more likely than other agencies to offer specific programming for individuals with a physical or cognitive disability. Agencies in urban locales are more likely than agencies in other locales to offer programming and activities geared for a multicultural, racial or ethnic community, members of the LGBTQ community, and the refugee and immigrant communities.

Formal Inclusion Plans and Partners While many agencies are already achieving a standard of inclusion, they frequently lack a formal policy that ensures consistent implementation of this standard across the agency. Creating and implementing a formal inclusion policy allows agencies to maintain a consistent set of guidance and matching action.

With a formal policy, this inclusion standard will thrive even through staff turnover, leadership changes, shifts in agency priorities and funding shortages. Forty percent of park and recreation agencies currently have a formal inclusion policy, with another 16 percent intending to develop a policy within the next year.

Working with third parties to provide resources, technical assistance and outreach support is one way park and recreation agencies work to ensure their programming and activities are relevant and accessible to all community members. A clear majority of park and recreation agencies — 93 percent — partner with other government agencies and external organizations to ensure their programming and activities

are inclusive to all community members.

Park and recreation agencies are most likely to partner with local schools (89 percent), nonprofit organizations (83 percent), and area-wide agencies on aging and disabilities (71 percent).

Other partner organizations include: • Local law enforcement agencies (59 percent) • Hospitals and healthcare providers (50 percent) • Faith-based organizations (48 percent) • Transit agencies (29 percent) Barriers to Being More Inclusive For all the progress agencies have made in ensuring their facilities, programming and offerings serve all members of the community, barriers remain that hamper them from fully delivering on this mission. Nine in 10 park and recreation agencies report they are confronting challenges that are preventing them from being more inclusive with their offerings.

A number of these challenges focus on a lack of resources: insufficient funding (62 percent), inadequate staffing (51 percent), a need for greater staff training (29 percent) or scarce supplies and equipment (11 percent). This lack of resources is partially the result of few agencies being able to access federal funding to support their inclusiveness efforts. In fact, barely 1 in 10 agencies currently receive grants, program support or other resources (such as best practices, technical assistance, training) from the federal government to support inclusive programming.

The challenges of fully understanding the needs of and reaching underserved community members are among the other barriers some park and recreation agencies face. Twenty-six percent of agencies indicate they do not currently have outreach activities that sufficiently reach these populations, while 23 percent acknowledge that they do not fully understand these populations’ needs.

What is not keeping most agencies from their inclusiveness efforts is apathy from either the public or local government leaders.

In fact, only 16 percent of survey respondents indicate that a lack of support from the public has hampered their agency’s inclusive efforts, while a mere 8 percent indicate that they suffer from a lack of support from local government leaders.

The full report, which can be downloaded from www.nrpa. org/InclusionReport, highlights specific activities that agencies engage in to ensure that all community members can benefit from all that parks and recreation can offer. It also highlights targeted age groups and specific engagement activities for these efforts, as well as provides specific examples of how agencies throughout the United States work to ensure inclusive offerings.

Kevin Roth, Ph.D., is NRPA’s Vice President of Research (kroth@nrpa.org).

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NRPA Park Pulse Each month, through a poll of Americans that is focused on park and recreation issues, NRPA Park Pulse will help to tell the park and recreation story. Questions span from the serious to the more lighthearted, and with this month’s poll, we asked Americans about their favorite place to take healthy eating or cooking classes.

Parks and Rec Are a Favorite Place to Take Healthy Eating Classes

Nearly 3 in 4 Americans say they would be interested in participating in healthy eating or cooking classes.

The top 3 places to take these classes include:

45%

33%

Home/Online

Grocery Store or Restaurant

26%

Community or Rec Center Parents are more likely to take healthy eating or cooking classes at their local rec center.

14 Parks & Recreation

www.nrpa.org/Park-Pulse

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The National Recreation and Park Association Survey was conducted by Wakefield Research (www.wakefieldresearch.com) among 1,004 nationally representative U.S. adults, ages 18+, between December

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Community Center Green Stormwater Infrastructure Empowering communities to be drivers of this planning

By Jenny Cox

M

ore frequent and extreme weather events combined with aging gray stormwater infrastructure are affecting the environmental and community health of neighborhoods across the country. Heavy rains often result in sewer overflows, severe flooding and unusable public spaces, especially in low-income and underserved communities.

NRPA’s Great Urban Parks Campaign, which promotes and advances green infrastructure stormwater management projects in parks, places issues of environmental injustice at the forefront of these projects. Parks can reduce localized flooding, and infiltrate and clean water. They also can offer vulnerable communities increased access to green space for recreation, and opportunities for education and employment. However, without meaningful and early community engagement, these green stormwater infrastructure projects are at risk

of not being fully embraced or understood by residents or accurately serving the diverse needs of the community.

Thanks to the support of Southwest Airlines, GreenRoots in Chelsea, Massachusetts, the city of Covington, Kentucky, and the Alliance for the Great Lakes in Gary, Indiana, executed innovative community engagement strategies related to the planning, design and implementation of green stormwater infrastructure installations in their parks over the past year. “Southwest Airlines is committed to bringing people together to

Tracie VanAuken

Two youth enjoy an afternoon of kayaking on the Chelsea Creek in Chelsea, Massachusetts.

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transform public spaces into places that connect people and contribute to a resilient, healthy and inclusive community,” says Todd Spinks Southwest Airlines’ advisor, Sustainability & Citizenship.

“Our partnership with NRPA provides an opportunity to do just that by empowering local organizations, inspiring youth and engaging each other in ways that enhance green stormwater infrastructure.”

Each of these communities created an engagement plan unique to the needs of its residents, which enabled them to work together to create green infrastructure solutions that bring maximum benefit to their communities. While these projects all experienced challenges, each community partner gained appreciation for the value residents added to the project and the overall accomplishments made through inclusion of the residents.

Chelsea, Massachusetts Chelsea, Massachusetts, in the north suburbs of Boston, is a low-income community that has been severely impacted by environmental injustice issues, most notably because of the overabundance of heavy industries located on Chelsea’s waterfront. GreenRoots, a community-based organization, is working to restore water quality and reduce the flood risk to the surrounding communities of Mill Creek through the installation of multi-benefit green infrastructure. A recent project at the Mill Creek Natural Playground focused on restoring the water’s edge into a more open and accessible site that supports the growth of appropriate flora and promotes active recreation.

In addition to adding stormwater tree trenches, bioswales and rain gardens to

manage flooding, GreenRoots knew it wanted the project to provide amenities that were lacking in the community.

GreenRoots’ ongoing strategy to engage the community has largely focused on fostering the long-term leadership development of Chelsea’s young people, who have traditionally not had access to their waterfront. Through a partnership with The Environmental Chelsea Organizers (ECO), a local youth-led environmental justice group focused on empowerment, leadership development and civic engagement, GreenRoots has created a platform for ECO youth to lead community engagement around a green infrastructure project.

“Youth empowerment means motivating ourselves and our peers to make decisions that will make a positive impact in our lives,” says ECO participant Cristian Garcia. “It means making our dreams come true with hard work and dedication. It means making those who don’t believe in us take a step back and realize we are leaders.”

The two groups carried out community events, meetings and activities to promote a greater connection to the river and to further educate residents about the importance green infrastructure can have on waterfront communities. Through community visioning sessions, residents shared their interest in having benches, open spaces and a community garden to complement the traditional bioretention areas. This created a win-win for all — green stormwater infrastructure projects were implemented while residents gained valuable open space, passive recreation and growing areas that will help further food justice goals.

Covington, Kentucky Within the city of Covington, Kentucky, 100-year rainfall events are occurring more routinely. Because of age and capacity issues with the combined sewer

City of Covington

Students participate in a Project WET workshop to learn activities for educating Covington residents on water quality issues.

system, portions of the city have been prone to flooding during these heavy rainfall events. However, the public is largely not aware of green stormwater infrastructure as a solution to flooding and, therefore, there is not much public support for green stormwater management projects.

To increase education and awareness and determine an ideal spot within the city to implement a green stormwater infrastructure project, the city of Covington worked with an undergraduate science education fellow. The fellow provided high school students with part-time employment where they learned about water quality and local stormwater issues through a Project WET curriculum, developed by experts in water education resources. The students participated in stream water quality testing, restoration projects and an outdoor adventure activity. Throughout the program, they used the knowledge they gained to select a park site. Then, they created a green stormwater infrastructure project proposal, which they shared at a public workshop during which they asked the community to vote on their ideas. To gather even more community participation, the projects were also shared on

social media and followers were invited to vote. The city acquired a total of 130 votes from interested residents.

While implementation of the winning project is a long-term goal, the students’ knowledge about water quality and stormwater-related issues increased exponentially, and they are now able to spot areas where green stormwater infrastructure installations would be ideal. In addition, they are developing ongoing strategies for how to communicate to the public about the issue and possible green solutions. Through youth education and job programs, Covington is hoping to bring more attention to the benefits of green stormwater infrastructure so that project implementation is widely embraced.

Gary, Indiana The city of Gary, a historically wet city because of two low-banked rivers that flow through its center, has recently recorded unprecedented precipitation and flooding. This has led to frequent combined sewer overflows, as well as substantial property damage. Depopulation and a lack of financial resources exacerbate these challenges; the current population of about 80,000 people is just

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Alliance for the Great Lakes

Community Center

Gary residents participate in a site-selection meeting to determine ideal locations for neighborhood pocket parks.

45 percent of the 1960s peak population.

Those left to address the city’s expansive and aging stormwater infrastructure are ill-equipped to pay for needed updates.

To manage these issues, the city committed to scaling the Vacant-to-Vibrant program, a multicity, Cleveland Botanical Garden-led initiative in which Great Lakes cities, challenged with many vacant properties, blight and flooding, install green infrastructure in pocket parks. The city partnered with The Alliance for the Great Lakes to support resident leadership and ensure that resident expertise is driving the site selection, design and implementation process for the transformation of six vacant city lots to pocket parks.

The project was highlighted at district meetings, and the community was given the chance to join the project steering committee, which included residents, city staff, landscape architects, planners, 18 Parks & Recreation

ecologists and engineers. This ensured that those community members had a say in every step of the planning process. Joelle Gamble, a resident of the Aetna neighborhood in Gary, shared her thoughts on being included in the process: “I have seen and have played a part in my neighborhood developing into a family-friendly place, where neighbors know each other and have a vested interest in the neighborhood. We voice our concerns and address issues, and the result is that more families have moved in. It’s such a nice feeling to see children playing in the streets, riding bikes and people walking their pets. We have a lot more challenges to overcome, but the neighborhood is the place we call our home!”

The alliance and the committee conducted targeted outreach, including attending neighborhood and church meetings, making personal calls and sending emails to promote community-wide site selection meetings where sites and design were discussed. This helped inform the city of priority pocket park locations and designs.

Lessons Learned Through outreach and engagement, residents in Chelsea, Covington and Gary are now more knowledgeable about solutions that enable their communities to better manage the effects of extreme weather and protect against severe flooding. In addition, their park and recreation agencies and partner organizations learned valuable strategies to engage residents in green stormwater infrastructure projects.

Rely on Existing Relationships – To recruit kids for the city of Covington’s program, the parks and recreation manager relied on her relationship with a student she met through a previous summer camp program. Word of mouth proved to be the city’s most suc-

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cessful recruitment tactic, because that student encouraged his sister and other friends to join the program. “Recruitment for the program would have been very difficult without existing relationships with students,” says Rosie Santos, Covington’s parks and recreation manager. Now several students are leading an effort to establish a club at their school to continue learning about related topics and to generate more interest in implementing green stormwater infrastructure projects among their peers, as well as their families.

Start with Understanding Needs Rather than Education – Communities may not be informed about green stormwater infrastructure as a solution for flooding and poor water quality. By understanding the needs of the community and showcasing how those needs can be met with green stormwater infrastructure projects, residents will not only be more engaged, but will also become advocates for future projects.

In Chelsea, GreenRoots learned that engaging residents in green stormwater infrastructure projects through the lens of creating more open green space and public access to the river has empowered them to think about the long-term, positive effect on local rivers and climate change more broadly. They have coupled community gardens, parks and sitting areas with bioswales and rain gardens.

Don’t Let Project Setbacks Impede Community Engagement – Almost every project encounters delays that cannot be prevented. However, it can be difficult to explain this to a community that lacks trust in its city government to deliver on its promises. Instead of focusing on the negative, keep residents engaged through related activities. It shows you still care about their needs and you are not abandoning the project.

GreenRoots had to delay its project to deal with land ownership and reme-

diation challenges regarding the site.

To keep residents engaged, it provided activities around the river, including storm-drain stenciling, kayaking trips and cleanups, which continued to bring attention and excitement to the waterfront.

Partnerships Matter – Within many city governments, community engagement around green stormwater infrastructure projects may not be a top priority for numerous reasons, including funding and staff capacity. Partnering with local nonprofits or grassroots organizations working to create resilient communities can help increase a park agency’s capacity to prioritize long-term community engagement in park projects.

The city of Gary had existing ideas on the best locations for new pocket parks

that could have the most impact on neighborhood stabilization and stormwater. However, it wanted to ensure residents’ needs were considered in the selection process. The Alliance for the Great Lakes partnered with the city to provide that support. The alliance spent time building relationships with residents to understand their needs and help them see how the city’s goals of the Vacant-to-Vibrant program relate. It used visual information and testimonials from residents who previously participated in Vacant-to-Vibrant projects to show them that these green stormwater infrastructure pocket parks can stabilize their neighborhood, provide healthy green space and manage stormwater. This work was crucial in the city’s selection and design process.

Conclusion Southwest Airlines’ support enabled these communities to create meaningful change for underserved communities and individuals in the three locations where the projects took place. The lessons learned from these projects will help to inform NRPA’s community engagement best practice and case study resource guide, which will be completed in spring 2018. The guide is part of NRPA’s larger effort to promote participatory planning, design, maintenance and programming at a park system and project level that engages under-represented communities and addresses equitable community development.

Jennifer Cox is NRPA’s Conservation Program Specialist (jcox@nrpa.org).

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Member to Member ‘Tripping’ with the Western DuPage Special Recreation Association How WDSRA provides adults with disabilities a unique opportunity for growth and independence

By Sherry Manschot

I

t’s 3 a.m. and the only visible light is coming from overhead parking lot lights.

But, the smiles on the faces of the 18 individuals standing in that lot could light up the entire early-morning sky. The air hums with excitement as old friends, and new ones, greet each other. It’s the start of a seven-day/six-night spring break adventure! This could be any trip offered by any park and recreation agency. However, it is one of the six trips for adults with intellectual and/or physical disabilities that’s offered annually by the Western DuPage Special Recreation Association (WDSRA).

Lisa Barski, a seasoned traveler with almost two-dozen WDSRA trips under her belt, has been to several vacation destinations, including the Bahamas and Jamaica, Nashville, South Padre Island and Disney World. She is a frequent flyer, has been on road trips and has even cruised the high seas. Her parents joke that she has traveled more than they have. Lisa is a 36-year-old adult with intellectual disabilities.

For Lisa, and others like her, these trips are more than a vacation. They are an opportunity to connect to the world around

them and share in the same type of leisure experiences that you and I enjoy.

They can also be the catalyst that moves them into the next stage of their development. By bolstering confidence and decision-making skills, an adult with cognitive and physical disabilities can often realize an increase to their level of independence.

In addition, a weeklong trip can spur developments in growth that lead to success in other areas of their lives.

Grant Camper’s mom, Joan, attributes part of Grant’s ability to land a job with

UPS this past fall to his frequent ‘tripping’ with WDSRA. “I see Grant make significant progress after every trip,” says Camper. Grant, who is 24 years old and on the autism spectrum, has also been on more than two-dozen WDSRA trips.

Encouraging Growth and Independence Just like for you and me, traveling can take us on new and exciting journeys. There are new cultures to learn about, foods to try as well as history and adventures to be discovered. It could be learning about family traditions in Mexico, tasting jerk chicken or curry goat in Jamaica, or swimming with the dolphins in the Caribbean.

“For adults with intellectual and/or physical disabilities, it’s more than a vacation,” explains Jorie Meyer, WDSRA program manager, who oversees every trip. “Trips offer a unique opportunity for growth and independence. It means learning to communicate with a roommate who wants to stay up later than you; dealing with disappointment when the restaurant chosen isn’t your choice; managing your schedule so you are on time and not holding up the group. It means speaking up when things are making you uncomfortable; trying something new because your ‘favorites’ aren’t available; and being part of the group instead of sitting on the sidelines.

Family members are not there to negotiate WDSRA participants enjoy an outing to Cedar Point amusement park in Erie County, Ohio.

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for them so they have to work things out for themselves,” Meyer continues.

Trained staff help travelers deal with these situations by offering encouragement on how to work through each new situation and offer solutions broken down to each person’s ability level. Over time, each new problem they learn to solve gives them the tools they need to do the same in other parts of their lives.

Many individuals with cognitive and physical disabilities struggle with changes in their routine. Meyer says, “The very nature of being on a trip means that the routine they have come to depend on is going to be upset. Learning to work with changes to their routine encourages flexibility.” Like many of us who like our routines, sometimes it is easier to deal with the changes when on vacation because of the exciting distractions.

Participants learn that a change in routine is OK. This lesson can also carry over when they get home and possibly into a job where routines are consistently changing.

Ditching the Comfort Zone One of the most comforting aspects of a WDSRA trip for families is that staff members are already familiar with everyone. They have gotten to know the individuals in other programs, are familiar with their physical and cognitive abilities, and have even built up personal relationships.

To give everyone the successful adventure they sign up for, staff plan the necessary individual accommodations. They look at the physical demands. For instance, an adult with cerebral palsy may need a shorter day than the rest of the group.

They look at the cognitive abilities. Grouping higher- and lower-functioning individuals separately allows both groups to enjoy their time at their own ability level.

Then, there is the delicate balance of behavior management and encouragement. These are perhaps the two most important keys in making the trip enjoyable and successful for everyone. Be

The funding provided by Illinois’ Special Recreation Associations allows every resident access to the best recreation experience possible.

Special Recreation Associations Funding

S

pecial Recreation Associations can provide more programs with a greater range of services to individuals with disabilities than a single community. By pooling residents and funding, more programs that meet the needs of unique individuals can be offered. This includes the ability to provide programs for target age groups and ability levels.

In Illinois in the early 1970s, legislation passed that allowed the creation of Special Recreation Associations. With its large number of separate taxing districts, including separate park, fire, library, township and counties, just to name a few, Illinois is unique in this type of funding.

This funding structure allowed communities and park districts to develop a joint agreement or cooperative to serve individuals with cognitive and physical disabilities. Funding for these cooperatives comes from taxes levied by its member agencies.

Special Recreation Associations also help individuals take part in their local agency programs. Qualified staff assess the resident’s abilities and either provide staff training, adaptive equipment, or a one-on-one assistance. The goal is to give every resident the choice in how to participate, thereby giving every individual the best recreation experience possible.

Currently, there are 33 Special Recreation Associations in Illinois, serving 210 communities.

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Member to Member

Last year, these WDSRA participants traveled to Mesa, Arizona, to the spring training camp for the Chicago Cubs.

joy a vacation of their own while Lisa is on her next trip. It will be the first time in a long time they have been able to do that.

cause staff know each individual, they can watch for and manage the various behaviors that can arise among a group of 18. They also want to encourage everyone to participate in the activities.

Knowing what type of encouragement each person responds to best and how far to push him or her outside of his or her comfort zones only comes because of those relationships.

“One of the highlights of our Caribbean trip was to swim with stingrays,” recalls Meyer. “One participant was adamant about not doing it. After watching her friends and the fun they were having, staff were able to coax her into the water.

She eventually found herself among the stingrays, laughing and smiling the entire time. It was the highlight of her trip!”

The ability to be a little more adventurous is a huge benefit Meyer sees participants come back with. “They learn to try something new and find out they don’t have to stick to their routine all the time. They begin 22 Parks & Recreation

to experience another level of success that they can take with them in everything else they do. They also realize that they don’t always need their parents nearby to be successful. The accomplishments they have on the trip are theirs alone,” she explains.

Relishing Family Respite Another important aspect to each trip is the impact it can have on the family. Family members are often “on duty 24/7” as caregivers. They are the family chauffeur, cook, teacher, playmate, etc., and respite comes in short, brief bursts. But, when their adult traveler can go on an overnight, three-day or seven-day trip, it offers a much-needed break for everyone.

Camper looks forward to each trip Grant takes because it is the only time she is “off duty.” She doesn’t have to manage Grant’s schedule or drive him to programs or work. For a few wonderful days, she can enjoy time to herself. Nada and Chris, Lisa’s parents, are planning to en-

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Getting Started Can you offer a trips program to your residents with cognitive and physical disabilities? If social equity and inclusion for all your residents is a goal, then moving toward these types of offerings can make a huge difference in the way community members with cognitive and physical disabilities are able to recreate.

While not as easy as simply adding another trip to your program calendar, it can be done with a few considerations.

Hiring Knowledgeable Staff – Hiring a seasoned staff member with an extensive background in working with people with a wide range of intellectual and/or physical disabilities in a community setting is a must.

They should be comfortable with the dayto-day operations of vacationing with people with cognitive and physical disabilities, know how to manage a range of behaviors and be experienced in handling any medical situation that may arise. They will need to evaluate and prepare accommodations for each person with the goal of giving everyone the same exceptional experience.

Building the Trust Factor – How can parents come to entrust their loved one on your trip like they do with WDSRA? Start by offering smaller programs. It could be anything you are currently offering now but with accommodations made for people with cognitive and physical disabilities. The benefit is two-fold. First, you will gain the knowledge and experience in programming for this segment of the community. Give yourself time to understand and learn what families need and expect so you can deliver the same quality programming you are already delivering

to other residents. Second, you will begin to develop a relationship with your residents with cognitive and physical disabilities. It may take some time, but you can reach residents not currently being served and turn them into lifelong customers.

Adapting Planning and Logistics – When beginning to plan your first trip for adults with cognitive and physical disabilities, be sure to reach out to experienced professionals like those at WDSRA. They can help you navigate some of the challenges that come with selecting transportation, lodging and excursion options. For instance, how to negotiate early boarding and sitting as a group because it may take longer than usual to get everyone situated; coordinating separate security clearances since waiting in a TSA line can be extremely difficult for some participants; and making sure lodging management understands the

needs of your group and are amenable to hosting a group with a range of disabilities.

When researching excursions, experienced professionals can help you keep safety and ability issues top of mind. For instance, excursions can be troublesome because some travelers may not be able to successfully wait for any length of time.

They can guide you in negotiating a way to bypass long lines or “no backpack” rules because of the varying medications to be distributed during the day and paperwork that always needs to be at hand. They can also lend guidance on how to manage the abundance of meal restrictions and make sure accessibility is never an issue.

“Start small — maybe with a local overnight trip,” suggests Meyer. This can make it easier for your planning, your first-time “trippers” and the family entrusting their loved one to you for the first time.”

Grant Camper enjoys some time with Mickey Mouse at Disney World.

If you would like to explore the possibility of offering programs for your residents with cognitive and physical disabilities, contact Jorie Meyer at 630.681.0962 or joriem@wdsra.com.

Sherry Manschot is the Marketing/PR Manager at the Western DuPage Special Recreation Association (sherrym@wdsra.com).

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ADVOCACY

The Negative Impact of Higher Entrance Fees at National Parks

By Jackie Ostfeld and Kyle Simpson

A

mericans oppose Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s plan to raise entrance fees in our most iconic and awe-inspiring national parks. According to a new bipartisan poll released by the Outdoors Alliance for Kids (OAK), an overwhelming majority of Americans believe our parks should remain open and available to all. Americans, across political parties, believe our parks should be funded federally and not through an entrance fee increase, which new evidence shows will likely have a dramatic impact on visitation.

In late October, the Trump administration proposed raising the park entry rates. Visitors to places, like Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon and Shenandoah National Park, would see entrance fees more than double — triple in some places — to $70 per vehicle during peak season.

The administration argues that the fee increase will help pay for crumbling infrastructure in our parks. We can all agree that our parks need to be cared for and maintained, but this is not a serious plan to do so. The maintenance backlog

24 Parks & Recreation

in our national parks is $11.9 billion — that’s billion, with a “b.” Earlier this year, President Trump and Secretary Zinke sent a proposal to Congress that would cut the park service budget by $322 million, the largest cut since World War II. Raising fees in our national parks, on the other hand, would generate less than $70 million, according to the Interior Department’s own estimates. Grade school math tells us it would take more than 160 years to reduce the maintenance needs in our parks at this rate.

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Furthermore, new evidence demonstrates that 64 percent of Americans would be less likely to visit a national park if fees were increased. That number spikes to 71 percent among Americans with household incomes under $30,000 per year. Raising fees not only will make our national parks less accessible to middle- and low-income families, but will also negatively impact visitation across income levels.

Seventy-eight percent of Americans also worry that the fee increase will harm local economies and small businesses in communities near the parks that depend on tourism for their livelihoods. When less people visit, small businesses, such as restaurants, gas stations and hotels, will feel the brunt of this decision. These communities will likely see falling tax revenues, impact-

ing the entire community. The bottom line is that fewer visitors mean less revenue generation for park maintenance, the administration’s stated purpose for raising fees in the first place, and will also negatively impact the communities surrounding our national parks.

While some days it seems like there is nothing but daylight between Republicans and Democrats, opposition to the fee hike presents an area of unity. Nearly 7 in 10 Americans — 68 percent — oppose the proposed fee increase, including majorities across all political and major demographic groups. When it comes to funding national parks, Americans overwhelmingly believe that increasing federal funding is a better approach than increasing entrance fees — 72 percent versus 28 percent, respectively.

A first visit to a national park often can ignite people’s love for the outdoors, a love they bring home to their local community. At NRPA and OAK, we are concerned with any proposal that would discourage people from visiting the outdoors. Our organizations are strong supporters of ensuring access to parks, on the national and at the neighborhood level. NRPA is continuing to work with cities and mayors across the country to ensure every American is within a 10-minute walk of a local park.

The National Park Service isn’t the only park organization facing a backlog in maintenance. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers’ 2017 Infrastructure Report Card, state parks face a deferred maintenance backlog of more than $95.3 million, and local parks face similar challenges. It was recently estimated that the combined local and state park maintenance backlog is around $12 billion.

Raising fees to the proposed rate of $70 per vehicle may reverse important strides the park service has made over the years to expand equity and access to nature

for all. To add insult to injury, the park service also just announced it will scale back fee-free days in national parks to just four days in 2018, plummeting from 16 in 2016 and 10 in 2017.

All children and youth should have opportunities and encouragement to experience nature. An overwhelming 92 percent of Americans agree that access to national parks provides kids with valuable opportunities to be active outdoors and to learn about the natural world. Eighty-five percent of Americans agree that increasing the visitor fees at national parks would make it less likely that children and people from lowerincome families would have a chance to visit the parks.

Our children are already spending less time outdoors than any generation in history, with profound consequences for their health and wellness. America’s kids are suffering from a childhood obesity crisis, resulting in shorter life expectancies than their parents. Youth spend more than 50 hours a week on electronic media and just minutes a day playing outdoors. The situation is so dire that a national movement has emerged to reintroduce a new genera-

tion of kids to nature.

Historically, the Interior Department has championed opportunities for kids to experience America’s great outdoors.

For example, leading up to the centennial of our national parks — just last year — the Find Your Park (www.nps.gov/ subjects/centennial/findyourpark.htm) campaign and the Every Kid in a Park (https://everykidinapark.gov/) program were launched to connect the next generation with our parks in their city, state parks nearby, as well as our majestic national parks.

The American people want to see more opportunities, not less, for kids and families to experience nature. This proposed fee hike will do more harm than good no matter how you look at it, and the administration should withdraw its proposal.

Detailed references for this article are available at www.parksandrecreation.org/2018/ February/the-negative-impact-of-higherentrance-fees-at-national-parks.

Jackie Ostfeld is the Outdoors Associate Director for the Sierra Club and Founder & Chair of Outdoors Alliance for Kids (jackie.ostfeld@sierraclub.org). Kyle Simpson is NRPA’s Senior Government Affairs Manager (ksimpson@nrpa.org).

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L AW R E V I E W

Public Park Dedication Evident in LWCF Grant

By James C. Kozlowski, J.D., Ph.D.

T

he ability of local government to divert existing parkland to other public purposes may depend on whether a particular parcel has been dedicated as a public park under state or federal law. If so, as illustrated by the case described herein, local government may have to strictly comply with procedural restrictions imposed by state and federal law before any diversion of public parkland can occur.

In the case of Smith v. City of Westfield, 278 Mass. 49 (Mass. 10/2/2017), the state Supreme Court considered that applicability of state and federal law to a planned conversion of a public park and playground (the Cross Street Playground) to an elementary school. Cross Street Playground contained 5.3 acres of land and included two little league baseball fields and a playground.

On August 18, 2011, the Westfield city council voted to transfer the entire Cross Street Playground from the city’s parks and recreation department to its school department for the purpose of constructing a new elementary school on the land.

In 2012, the city began a demolition

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process that included taking down century-old trees and removing a portion of the playground.

A group of city residents, including the mayor and city council, sued the city claiming a provision of the state constitution (Article 97) required approval by the state legislature prior to any construction or operation of a new school on any part of the Cross Street Playground. (As was the case here, typically, it is a group of concerned citizens and/or a local “Friends of the Park” group, which challenge their own local government’s attempts to divert existing parkland to other public purposes or private development.)

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Article 97 and LWCF Grant In 1972, Article 97 was added to the Massachusetts Constitution to protect “lands and easements taken or acquired for conservation purposes.” In particular, Article 97 provided these resources “shall not be used for other purposes or otherwise disposed of without the approval of a two-thirds roll call vote of each branch of the Legislature.”

In 1979, working in cooperation with the state government, the city of Westfield had applied for and received a grant from the federal government (as well as matching funds from the state) to rehabilitate several of its playgrounds, including the Cross Street Playground. The federal conservation funds that the city received were made available by the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965.

The grant agreement for rehabilitation of the Cross Street Playground indicated that the grant was expressly

conditioned on compliance with the act. Therefore, by accepting the federal monies under the act, the city forfeited the ability to convert any part of the Cross Street Playground to a use other than public outdoor recreation unilaterally; such a conversion could only proceed with the approval of the secretary of the interior through the National Park Service.

The LWCF mandated that “[n]o property acquired or developed with assistance under this section shall be converted to other than public outdoor recreation uses” without the approval of the United States Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) (16 U.S.C. § 460l-8(f)(3)). Further, the LWCF stated that “the Secretary shall approve such conversion only if he finds it to be in accord with the then existing

comprehensive statewide outdoor recreation plan (SCORP) and only upon such conditions as he deems necessary to assure the substitution of other recreation properties of at least equal fair market value and of reasonably equivalent usefulness and location.”

The 2006 Massachusetts SCORP stated explicitly that land acquired or developed with LWCF funds becomes protected under the Massachusetts Constitution (Article 97) and federal regulations — and cannot be converted from intended use without permission from the National Park Service and Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.

Lower Court Proceedings The trial court had issued an injunction prohibiting construction of the

new school until the city complied with applicable state and federal law.

In subsequent proceedings, however, the court found Article 97 of the state constitution state law would not protect Cross Street Playground from diversion absent a “recorded instrument” in the land records, indicating the land was specifically “taken or acquired for conservation purposes.” Since no recorded instrument had designated use of the Cross Street Playground “as a playground or for any other recreational purpose,” the trial court ultimately concluded “the parcel was not protected” by Article 97 of the state constitution. The trial court, therefore, vacated the injunction against the city.

The appeals court affirmed the judgment of the trial court in favor of the city. In the opinion of the appeals court,

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“land is protected by Art. 97 only where it was taken or acquired for conservation or another purpose set forth in Art. 97,” or where “the land is specifically designated for Art. 97 purposes by deed or other recorded restriction.”

A dissenting judge, however, found this narrow interpretation of Article 97 was inconsistent with the legislative intent to protect parks: “The overriding point of Art. 97 is to insulate dedicated parkland from short-term political pressures.” As a result, the dissenting judge would not have limited the application of Article 97 protection to lands with a conservation purpose expressed in a recorded deed.

The state Supreme Court granted the plaintiffs’ request to review these decisions by the lower courts. Accordingly, the state Supreme Court would determine whether Article 97 would apply to a proposed change in the use of municipal parkland, “where there is no restriction recorded in the registry of deeds that limits its use to conservation or recreational purposes.”

Permanent Park Dedication In the opinion of the state Supreme Court, municipal parkland could be protected

by Article 97 without a recorded deed 28 Parks & Recreation

restriction “provided the land has been dedicated as a public park.” According to the state Supreme Court, land would be dedicated as a public park, “where there is a clear and unequivocal intent to dedicate the land permanently as a public park and where the public accepts such use by actually using the land as a public park.”

As described by the state Supreme Court, there were “various ways to manifest a clear and unequivocal intent” to dedicate land as a public park. While the recording of a deed or a conservation restriction was one way of manifesting the required intent, the court acknowledged “it is not the only way” to dedicate land to the public as a public park.

That being said, the Supreme Court noted: “The clear and unequivocal intent to dedicate public land as a public park must be more than simply an intent to use public land as a park temporarily or until a better use has emerged or ripened.” Rather, the state Supreme Court found “the intent must be to use the land permanently as a public park.”

According to the state Supreme Court, once land is permanently dedicated for such use to the benefit of the general public, the public obtains an interest in the land, which is “irrevocable.”

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Common Good Park Dedication Within the context of dedicating parkland to the public, the state Supreme Court noted the public dedication is “not simply the residents of the particular city or town that owns the parkland.” On the contrary, the state Supreme Court found “[t]he dominant aim in the establishment of public parks appears to be the common good of mankind rather than the special gain or private benefit of a particular city or town.”

The healthful and civilizing influence of parks in and near congested areas of population is of more than local interest and becomes a concern of the State under modern conditions. It relates not only to public health in its narrow sense, but to broader considerations of exercise, refreshment and enjoyment.

Moreover, “since the general public has an interest in parkland owned by a city or town,” the state Supreme Court found the “ultimate authority over a public park rests with the Legislature, not with the municipality.”

Because the Legislature has ‘paramount authority’ over public parks, dedicated parkland cannot be sold or devoted to another public use without the approval of the Legislature. The rule that public lands devoted to one public use cannot be diverted to another inconsistent public use without plain and explicit legislation authorizing the diversion is now firmly established in our law.

Prior Public Use Rule While this “rule,” known as the doctrine of “prior public use,” was not limited to parkland, the state Supreme Court noted the rule was to be “applied more stringently where a public agency or municipality seeks to encroach upon a park.”

According to the state Supreme Court, the meaning of Article 97 for an existing public park “must be understood in this common-law context,” i.e., the prior public use rule.

There is no reason to believe that Art. 97 was intended by the Legislature or the voters to diminish the scope of parkland that had been protected under the common law by the prior public use doctrine or the doctrine of public dedication.

As a result, the state Supreme Court concluded “parkland protected by Art. 97 includes land dedicated by municipalities as public parks that, under the prior public use doctrine, cannot be sold or devoted to another public use without plain and explicit legislative authority.” Accordingly, “the explicit legislation authorizing the diversion of public parkland pursuant to Article 97 would require a two-thirds vote by the state legislature.”

Playground Prior Public Use Having found “the spirit of Art. 97 is derived from the related doctrine of prior public use,” the state Supreme Court then considered “whether the Cross Street Playground was dedicated by the city as a public park.” If so, the Supreme Court noted the proposed transfer of Cross Street Playground from use as a public park to a school “would require legislative approval under the prior public use doctrine and, thus, under Art. 97.”

As described by the state Supreme Court, within the context of prior public use, Cross Street Playground had served as a public playground for more than 60 years. The city obtained title to the parcel in 1939 through an action to foreclose a tax lien for nonpayment of taxes.

In 1946, the city planning board recommended that the land be used for a “new playground,” and referred the matter to the mayor. The city council voted in 1948 to turn over “full charge and control” of the property to the playground commission and, in 1949, to transfer funds to the commission to cover costs of work to be done on Cross Street Playground.

In November 1957, the city council

passed an ordinance formally naming the playground the “John A. Sullivan Memorial Playground.” The mayor approved the ordinance early in 1958. Despite the name formally given, the parcel

eventually came to be commonly known as the “Cross Street Playground.”

In 2009, a report on a survey of the city’s parks and open space conducted by the Department of Conservation and

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Recreation, the Pioneer Valley planning commission and the Franklin Regional council of governments included a map that identifies the Cross Street Playground as “permanently protected open space.” A year later, the city’s mayor endorsed an open space plan which noted that, although not all public land is “permanently committed for conservation purposes,” Cross Street Playground was public land with a “full” degree of protection and “active” recreation potential.

LWCF Grant “Determinative” In considering the “totality of circumstances,” the state Supreme Court acknowledged the significant history of more than 60 years of public park use at Cross Street Playground. That being said, the court found the 1979 LWCF grant to rehabilitate Cross Street Playground was more determinative of the city’s clear and unequivocal intent

Regardless of whether the parcel had been dedicated earlier as a public park, it became so dedicated once the city accepted federal funds pursuant to this condition. It is significant that this understanding was shared by the executive office of energy and environmental affairs, whose 2006 SCORP stated that land developed with LWCF funds became protected under Art. 97.

Conclusion Having found the Cross Street Playground was dedicated as a public park by the city under the LWCF law, as well as, the prior public use doctrine and Article 97, the state Supreme Court vacated the judgment of the lower courts in favor of the city of Westfield and ordered the trial court to issue a judgment in favor of the plaintiffs. In so doing, absent compliance with both Article 97 and the LWCF law, the trial court would impose a permanent injunction against

“...in light of LWCF grant funding for the site, the state Supreme Court held the city of Westfield had ‘surrendered all ability to convert the playground to a use other than public outdoor recreation without the approval of the Secretary.’” to dedicate this land as a public park.

Moreover, the state Supreme Court found: “The restrictions imposed by the act on the management of land acquired or developed with LWCF funding remain in full effect over the Cross Street Playground” (see 54 U.S.C. § 200305(f) (3) (2012 & Supp. II)).

As a result, in light of LWCF grant funding for the site, the state Supreme Court held the city of Westfield had “surrendered all ability to convert the playground to a use other than public outdoor recreation without the approval of the Secretary” (16 U.S.C. § 460l-8(f)(3)).

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diversion of the Cross Street Playground to an elementary school.

The city of Westfield had argued that “the failure to build a new public school would have an adverse impact on the residents of the city, specifically the children, who are currently learning in outdated and decaying schools.” The state Supreme Court, however, was not prohibiting the construction of a new school. On the contrary, the Supreme Court was merely ordering the city to comply with the law before it proceeds; i.e., Article 97 and the LWCF law.

Compliance with Article 97 would re-

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quire a two-thirds vote by the state legislature to allow diversion of the Cross Street Playground to an elementary school. Moreover, compliance with the LWCF law would require the secretary of the interior, through the National Park Service, to approve conversion of the Cross Street Playground to an elementary school. Approval of any such conversion request, however, would require the city of Westfield to satisfy any necessary conditions imposed by the secretary to assure “the substitution of other recreation properties of at least equal fair market value and of reasonably equivalent usefulness and location” to Cross Street Playground.

See Also: • “Park Conversion Protection in LWCF Project Map” James C. Kozlowski, Parks & Recreation, Nov. 2011, Vol. 46, Iss. 11 http://cehdclass.gmu.edu/jkozlows/ lawarts/11NOV11.pdf • “New Yankee Stadium Replaces Parkland” James C. Kozlowski, Parks & Recreation, Apr. 2007, Vol. 42, Iss.4. http://cehdclass.gmu.edu/jkozlows/ lawarts/04APR07.pdf • “Gift of Park Land in Perpetuity” James C. Kozlowski, Parks & Recreation, Dec. 2006, Vol. 41, Iss.12. http://cehdclass.gmu.edu/jkozlows/ lawarts/12DEC06.pdf • “Land & Water Conservation Fund Act Blocks Conversion of Scenic Easement to Golf Course” James C. Kozlowski, Parks & Recreation, Aug. 1994, Vol. 29, Iss. 8. http://cehdclass.gmu.edu/jkozlows/ lawarts/08AUG94.pdf James C. Kozlowski, J.D., Ph.D., is an Attorney and Associate Professor in the School of Recreation, Health and Tourism at George Mason University (jkozlows@gmu.edu). Webpage with link to law review articles archive (1982 to present): http://mason.gmu.edu/~jkozlows.

It’s Your Time to Shine Get Recognition with an NRPA Award: Innovation Awards - Honor agencies improving their communities in inspirational ways.

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ULI/Carlos F. Perez, PLA, Perez Planning + Design LLC

Promoting Active Transportation in El Paso

By Katharine Burgess and Leah Sheppard

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chain-link fence and “No Trespassing” sign halt any pedestrian and bike traffic on the Franklin Canal in El Paso, Texas. Established in the late 19th century, the 28-mile canal was celebrated as the first complex, large-scale irrigation project along the Rio Grande in west Texas. Today, about 2 miles of the canal runs through the Chamizal neighborhood, a largely low-income community that connects downtown to the burgeoning Medical Center of the Americas. Bordering several Housing Authority sites, the canal is overgrown and remains underutilized.

In fall 2016, about 100 residents, business owners and public officials came together to discuss the canal, the adjacent neighborhoods and an opportunity to connect them: a proposed Active Transportation System (ATS) funded by the El Paso Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). These community members were participating in an Urban Land Institute (ULI) Advisory Services Panel (https:// americas.uli.org/programs/advisoryservices/), a week-long workshop con-

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vened to develop a strategy for the “International Beltway” portion of the ATS. Co-sponsored by the city of El Paso, the Borderplex Alliance and the county of El Paso, the Advisory Services Panel sought to identify a land-use strategy for the ATS, exploring how the ATS could be designed to build resilience. A key question was how cycling and pedestrian infrastructure could address climate risks, such as drought, water supply shortages, urban heat island and flash flooding, which El

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The Advisory Services Panel envisioned incorporating the currently inaccessible Franklin Canal in El Paso, Texas, into the design for the city’s Active Transportation System, helping to connect downtown to the burgeoning Medical Center of the Americas. This strategy would create amenities for adjacent, largely low-income communities, while also providing much-needed stormwater management and emergency flood control.

Paso regularly experiences. Among other proposals, the panel recommended integrating the Franklin Canal into the ATS. The canal, which includes a 6- to 10-foot right-of-way, would be a safe space for cycling and walking, while continuing to offer opportunities for stormwater management and emergency flood control.

When asked why she convened the panel, Nicole Ferrini, director of the El Paso Community & Human Development department, said, “There was a need for us to have an outside perspective that tied all the pieces of resilience together. The city was interested in taking advantage of the expertise that ULI brings.”

ULI has hosted Advisory Services Panels in 600 communities since the 1940s.

These panels are five-day workshops led

by ULI members, who contribute their professional expertise to addressing complex development, planning and landuse challenges. Finance, implementation and delivery strategies are often a crucial focus of discussions. After community consultation, site touring, research and strategizing, the panelists present their ideas at a public event and produce a report. In El Paso, the report (https:// americas.uli.org/elpasopanel) detailed a strategy for the ATS, which focused on resilient design and land use.

Beginning in 2018, park and recreation departments will have increased access to the Advisory Services program.

In conjunction with the 10-minute walk campaign, which is led by NRPA, ULI and the Trust for Public Land, ULI is offering specialized week-long Advisory Services Panels focused on parks and open space, resilience, park-connecting infrastructure and related issues.

“Park and trail projects are a great fit for a ULI panel,” notes the El Paso panel Chair Kamuron Gurol, the corridor development director for Sound Transit. “By combining the talents and disciplinary knowledge of market and real estate experts, architects and planners, landscape designers and engineers, and nonprofit leaders and public-sector managers, the ULI panel process delivers visionary recommendations that reflect local needs and goals.”

ULI panelists presented a vision for a vibrant trail system, including a series of community green spaces along the canal and within the residential areas of the Chamizal neighborhood. They also recommended broader land use strategies, including increased coordination between the MPO and the Housing Authority to integrate the plans for housing redevelop

ULI/Katharine Burgess

A portion of El Paso’s Franklin Canal, which runs through the largely low-income Chamizal neighborhood, as it appears today.

ment along the Franklin Canal into the trail’s public space network. Involving a range of agencies and stakeholders and incorporating these adjacent sites would help the MPO create pedestrian and cyclist infrastructure likely to provide the greatest value for the local communities.

The panel also explored strategies for engaging the Chamizal community in the design of the project and in promotion of active transportation in general.

“It was exciting to participate as a panelist in a community that recognizes the challenges and opportunities that the ATS corridor could present to vulnerable populations and then worked to include those voices in the visioning process,” says Jodi Slick, panelist and CEO of Equilibrium, a nonprofit organization focused on energy, resilience and revitalization. After the panel, Ferrini cited the advice on “moving toward a shared leadership model with the community,” and the proposed strategies for engagement and partnerships, as key components for implementation.

One year since the panel, the city continues to work with the MPO on positioning the ATS. Beyond the canal itself,

Ferrini noted that the vision for an integrated, resilient Active Transportation System has since influenced projects led by the MPO, Housing Authority and local philanthropic community. Ferrini is also currently exploring how the ATS concept could be applied to sites across the border in adjacent Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, through the Borderplex Regional Planning Taskforce.

Carlos Perez, panelist and principal of Perez Planning + Design, explains: “Active Transportation Systems (ATS) are regularly a top-priority leisure and transportation need for communities across the country. The El Paso ULI panel showed how a system can also tackle some of the broader and more challenging issues facing many communities, such as social, environmental and economic resilience.”

Note: To learn more about ULI’s Advisory Services program, visit https://americas.uli. org/programs/advisory-services/.

Katharine Burgess (Senior Director) and Leah Sheppard (Associate) manage the Urban Resilience program for the Urban Land Institute, including Advisory Services Panels focused on resilience (resilience@uli.org).

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HEALTH AND WELLNESS Healthy Detroit: Building a Culture of Primary Prevention

By Maureen Acquino

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s Nicholas Mukhtar was finishing his medical degree in Detroit, he began to see a different side of healthcare. Rather than follow the career path of a surgeon, focusing on treating people once they became sick, he decided he’d create systems change at the community level and focus on prevention. This shift in focus came as he read through the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Commissioned under the ACA was the U.S. Surgeon General’s National Prevention Strategy (NPS), designed to provide advice on choosing the most effective and achievable means for improving health and well-being. ed behaviors directly shaped by socioeconomic factors and an additional 10 percent are related to the physical environment.

In response to this strategy, Mukhtar founded Healthy Detroit, a 501(c)(3) public health organization, dedicated to building a culture of healthy, active living in the city of Detroit by providing community members with the education, resources and empowerment needed to live healthy and happy lives.

Mukhtar found, through his research, that only 10–20 percent of a person’s health is related to quality of services received. In comparison, more than 40 percent of the factors that contribute to the length and quality of a person’s life are social and economic, another 30 percent are health-relat-

HealthPark Plan

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Addressing Detroit’s Health Disparities Healthy Detroit began to address Detroit’s disparities by partnering with several city organizations on various initiatives to achieve health equity in the community. Through its work, primarily with the Detroit Parks & Recreation Department (DPRD), Healthy Detroit is able to increase its reach in the effort to build a culture of primary prevention in the city. Other Healthy Detroit partners include Trinity Health, Holy Cross systems, Mercy Primary Care Center, Ascension Health, Detroit Medical Center and more, who provide the organization with financial support as well as with on-site services — health screenings, support groups and classes; outdoor/ indoor fitness equipment and programming, athletic leagues and youth camps; healthy eating/ nutrition classes and programs; and resources for employment, transportation, finances and housing — in districts across the city.

In all communities, the overall role of public-private partnerships

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is developed by connecting several smaller goals. During the 2017 NRPA Annual Conference session, titled “Public-Private Park Partnerships to Achieve Healthy Equity,” Mukhtar outlined what a successful public-private partnership looks like with regard to private entities and local government working to achieve health equity: • Provide a mechanism for private funders to make substantial investments in long-lasting health initiatives.

• Develop and lead innovative public health initiatives.

• Provide a tool for city government.

• Enable the private sector to become strategic partners of city government.

• Provide a template for more effective community-based interventions.

• Create an effective “social movement” around building a culture of prevention.

While the benefits of creating a plic-private partnership are plentiful, the path to get there can be challenging. For Mukhtar, some of the challenges he’s faced include: • Finding the balance and having the ability to share control.

• Ensuring that the mission, vision and values of the entities align.

• Building a sustainable system.

• Measuring the added value that the partnership provides.

• Maintaining an element of neutrality within the public health system.

“It is important to stress that successful partnerships must have mutual benefits for all parties, and these benefits must be explicit and transparent. Partnerships that are formed in which one side benefits and the other side does not are not sustainable and will not be successful,” Mukhtar emphasizes.

HealthPark Reward System

Aligning Healthy Detroit and the DPRD In its quest to improve health equity, Healthy Detroit implemented a model called HealthPark. HealthParks use existing park space to provide residents with neighborhood wellness hubs, creating a space where community health workers support everything needed to live healthy lives. In partnership with the DPRD and Holy Cross Services, Healthy Detroit designated five HealthPark sites that provide ongoing programming and resources to help residents with issues relating to health, as well as to transportation, housing, finance and employment — barriers often cited to achieving health equity with underserved communities.

As residents enter a HealthPark wellness center, they are assessed by the health workers on both a biometric scale,

as well as on a health and social service scale. An eScript is generated, based on that assessment, and then residents are connected to community partners and services in an on-site virtual network that’s ready to address their needs. Residents are also provided with a Healthy Detroit Passport, which collects data through an electronic program and rewards residents with incentives for engaging in programs and services. This passport serves as a tool that not only allows for the collection of important aggregate data, but also engages and empowers residents as they work to achieve their health goals.

Although there are tangible compo-

nents of HealthParks, Mukhtar believes these spaces also encourage social interaction, community building and civic engagement, yielding important physical and mental health benefits.

Note: For agencies looking to form a public-private partnership to support their community, check out NRPA’s blog, “Simple Solutions to Common Park and Recreation Problems.”

Maureen Acquino is an NRPA Program Specialist on the Health and Wellness Team (macquino@ nrpa.org).

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SOCIAL EQUITY Applying a Racial Equity Lens to Our Parks

By Alec Weis, Julie Nelson, Jennifer Ringold, Art Hendricks and Jules Posadas

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any park departments hold inclusivity as a core value and take a nonexclusionary approach to park services. While inclusivity is an important principle, this broad approach fails to acknowledge the discrepancies in how resources are allocated. Restructuring resource allocation on an institutional level can work to combat deep racial inequities. Racial inequity in the United States affects every success indicator. Working toward racial equity involves closing this gap and improving outcomes for everyone. are all exemplary park departments that have successfully shifted their approach from mere inclusivity to racial equity.

Seattle, Washington The City of Seattle Race and Social Justice Initiative (RSJI) (www.seattle.gov/rsji) established a vision for racial equity, and park and recreation programs and facilities are bringing that vision to life. Seattle Park and Recreation’s programs, policies and initiatives are embedded with racial equity

Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board

Parks are particularly poised to effectuate equity in neighborhood development, health outcomes and education. Achieving a more equitable society requires being intentional in applying specific strategies to eliminate the gaps and lift outcomes for all groups. These changes require more than just ensuring that services meet the needs of the community.

Instead, they must focus on changing policies, institutions and structures.

Seattle, Portland and Minneapolis

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outcomes, strategies and actions to provide measurable results to strengthen healthy people, the healthy environment and strong communities. To achieve this vision, Seattle has separated the process into three distinct phases: assessment, development, and implementation and improvement.

During the initial assessment, the RSJI Change Team has helped to determine the regions where resources can be intentionally allocated most effectively. Jules Posadas, a leader of the Parks RSJI Change Team, emphasizes the importance of using a “stakeholder-driven process.” By partnering with organizations embedded within the community, it is possible to determine community needs and priorities. For instance, in establishing the “Get Moving Fund” (www.seattle.gov/ parks/about-us/special-initiatives-andprograms/get-moving), a clear correlation emerged between race, poverty and obesity. By identifying this correlation, the city’s finite resources could be deployed to best serve the vulnerable parts of the community with the highest disparities.

Having a plan ensures that there are measurable results, divisions are accountable and staff is intentional in implementing the work, both from the top down and the bottom up. The superintendent supports the plan and provides clear directives to the staff, which is involved in the implementation and embeds racial equity goals on the ground. There are real measurable metrics to assess the effectiveness of racial equity within programs.

Lastly, Seattle RSJI has deployed a specific assessment project developed by the overall RSJI, with the purpose of improving capacity to achieve racial equity and track the effectiveness of using racial equity tools. It creates an opportunity for reflection

around goals and strategies, while providing important metrics for future initiatives.

Minneapolis, Minnesota The Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board (MPRB) has been developing its approach to racial equity, inclusion and diversity over the past decade. Its Racial Equity Action Plan (https://www.minneapolisparks. org/about_us/racial_equity/), designed to be updated on a regular basis, establishes timelines, accountability and performance measures for each action. Those actions include the MPRB’s unique approach to ensuring capital improvements do not reinforce current racial disparities in the city by directing funding where needs are greatest.

In December of 2016, the MPRB adopted its annual budget, which, for the first time, utilized an empirical equity matrix to select capital improvement projects in neighborhood parks. In 2017, the MPRB expanded on this work by introducing a second matrix for selecting nature-based regional parks improvement projects and an additional equity framework for allocating recreation staff funding to each of its 47 recreation centers across the city. In addition, the MPRB’s budget process requires that each new request or potential budget cut be viewed through an equity lens.

In Minneapolis, parks are within a 10to 15-minute walk from every home and are a visible and influential part of the environment. Deputy Superintendent Jennifer Ringold recognizes that due to the high visibility of parks, community members and staff can quickly see the impact of their work. It can sometimes take a long time to see results of racial equity work; however, parks provide an excellent incubator to see that impact.

Portland, Oregon Portland Parks and Recreation (PPR) has developed a Five-Year Racial Equity Plan (www.portlandoregon.gov/parks/74187)

to provide equitable access to its park services. The plan focuses on workforce diversity and competency, adequate language access across organizations, reducing disparities in investments and embedding a racial equity lens in all levels of the organization. PPR Equity and Inclusion Manager Art Hendricks provides technical guidance and leadership to promote racial equity and diversity within the bureau. Hendricks clarifies the importance of grounding equity work in the community and going beyond mere park services. He identifies four key focus areas for PPR: • Leadership development: working with 600 full-time employees to understand and apply equity • Culturally responsible workforce: hiring talented folks with an equity mindset and partnering with community organizations • Community engagement: working with members of the community to effectively deliver programs • Accurate data systems: using data to set priorities and assessing capital investments The plan uses a data-driven equity framework to operate with urgency and accountability. Portland has established the Parks Race and Ethnicity Project (PREP) that collects accurate information concerning communities of color, immigrants and refugees and has served as an integral assessment tool. PREP was created to better understand who is currently using the PPR services provided at community centers.

By understanding this information, the bureau is better able to assess its performance in serving all populations.

Hendricks says, “Parks bring communities together and help to break down social, racial and cultural barriers.” Park programs can be used to engage the most marginalized communities to create civic community engagement. By dismantling social isolation, Portland parks help to eliminate institutional racism. Programs such as the Youth Ambassador Program

has hired high school- and college-aged youth from more than 10 different ethnic groups to work within their community.

Portland has also partnered with organizations of color to train arborists within urban forestry.

Conclusion Despite being particularly tailored, Seattle, Minneapolis and Portland’s approaches to racial equity work shares common elements: • Assessing programs and services by engaging communities of color • Applying a data-driven approach with measurable results • Exhibiting patience and urgency in implementation • Holding organizational members accountable at all levels • Building an infrastructure of care and support By laying out a clear racial equity action plan, park departments can focus on achievable strategic goals and make critical progress toward a fairer and more just society for everyone. We are organizing in government with the belief that its transformation is essential for us to advance racial equity and is critical to our success as a nation. Park and recreation agencies are situated within communities where people live, work and play and, as such, can play a key role in advancing racial equity.

Alec Weiss is a Research Assistant from the University of California, Berkeley, for the Government Alliance on Race and Equity (alecweiss@berkeley.edu). Julie Nelson is Senior Vice President, Race Forward/Center for Social Inclusion and Director, Government Alliance on Race and Equity (jnelson@thecsi.org). Jennifer Ringold is the Deputy Superintendent for the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (jringold@minneapolisparks.org). Art Hendricks is the Equity & Inclusion Manager for the Equity & Inclusion Office, Portland Parks & Recreation (art. hendricks@portlandoregon.gov). Jules Posadas is Race and Social Justice Initiative Co-Lead, City of Seattle Parks and Recreation (jules.posadas@ seattle.gov).

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Top Trends

in Parks and Recreation for 2018

By Richard J. Dolesh

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hat began a few years ago as a light-hearted look at new, interesting and even controversial trends in the field of parks and recreation has now become an annual tradition for NRPA. Part tongue-in-cheek speculating and part fearless prognostication, here are NRPA’s Top Trends for 2018:

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PA R K T R E N D S

Parks Everywhere, Especially Underground Innovative locations for public parks are being proposed everywhere — on the tops of tall buildings, in the middle of stormwater management areas, even in abandoned underground spaces. Thirty years ago, who would have thought that repurposing abandoned rail corridors into linear parks and active transportation networks would become a nationwide movement that would conserve more than 22,000 miles of unused rail lines that would be converted to hiking and biking trails?

Today, the spotlight is on underground parks. New York’s Lowline, billed as “the world’s first subterranean green space” and scheduled to open in 2021, is the conversion of an abandoned underground trolley terminal. Increasingly, the question most often asked about unused public space in cities across America is becoming: “How can we turn this space into a park?”

PREDICTION: Major new underground public parks will be proposed in three cities. Advocates fighting to keep the now-closed Battery Street tunnel in Seattle (https://tinyurl. com/y8ebwrsf) from being filled with rubble from the demolished Viaduct will win their fight, and this underground space will be turned into a unique and endlessly interesting public park.

Parks as Supervised Opioid Injection Sites With the spread of opioid abuse nationwide, some parks and public areas regrettably have become preferred sites for opioid users. In response, some localities are considering providing designated opioid injection sites that are staffed with healthcare professionals to supervise injections.

Such public health outreach has a long history in Europe, as well as in Canada and Australia. Most recently in the United States, King County, Washington, received state approval to establish an approved opioid injection site. More states are considering such proposals.

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PREDICTION: One or more newly designated, supervised opioid injection sites will be established in a U.S. community recreation center in 2018.

Hepatitis, Coming to a Park Near You? Public lands under highway bridges and along streams have sometimes become sites for homeless encampments. Such sites are much more likely to spread communicable diseases from unsanitary conditions and shared drug paraphernalia. In August 2017, the CDC notified all state and local health departments regarding investigations of clusters of hepatitis A in persons who were homeless and/or used injection drugs (https://tinyurl.com/y79opeuq). Recent outbreaks of hepatitis A in San Diego, Los Angeles and Santa Cruz, California, were widely reported in 2017 and incidences of hepatitis A have increased in other states, including Michigan, Kentucky and Utah.

PREDICTION: Sadly, a U.S. park system will become the site of a hepatitis A outbreak in 2018.

Parks and Rec as Partners in Evidence-Based Health Delivery On the good news side regarding parks and health, many park and recreation areas are not only becoming places to improve health through physical activity, but also places to participate in evidence-based programs that measurably improve health.

NRPA-sponsored programs with local park and rec agencies (http://www.nrpa. org/our-work/partnerships/initiatives/ healthy-aging-in-parks/evidence-basedinterventions/) range from Active Living Every Day for sedentary adults to Walk With Ease low-impact, weekly walking programs and arthritis intervention programs, such as Fit and Strong!, for those with osteoarthritis. One hundred and fif-

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ty-five agencies representing 45 states have already made commitments to implement arthritis evidence-based physical activity programs in parks.

PREDICTION: At least one park and recreation agency will sign a contract in 2018 with a healthcare system to participate in a Community Integrated Health model program.

Drones, Drones and More Drones Drone use by public-sector agencies is becoming increasingly more widespread with governmental drones performing duties like successful search and rescue operations, surveillance of illegal activity and tracking the spread of invasive species. Drones will only continue to become more popular with the public who are looking for places to fly and by agency staff who are looking to utilize their unique capabilities.

PREDICTION: Commercial and recreational drones will prove their value to parks in 2018.

Drone use will expand, improving the ability to count visitors, provide security monitoring, and engage in firefighting and search-and-rescue missions, not to mention saving much- needed funds.

Billionaires Love Parks In the past five years, there have been a series of extraordinary gifts to parks across the country by very wealthy individuals who want to give back to their communities. These have included a $100 million gift to the Central Park Conservancy by hedge fund manager John A. Paulson in 2012; a $350 million donation by the George Kaiser Family Foundation to the River Parks Authority in Tulsa, Oklahoma; and many multimillion-dollar donations to park systems, including two gifts by Ken Griffin to the Chicago Park District: a $12 million donation in 2016 to create a bicycle and pedestrian-separated trails along the Chicago lakefront and a $3 million gift

in 2017 to build 50 soccer fields in underserved Chicago communities.

PREDICTION: At least five urban park systems in large cities will be recipients of multimillion-dollar gifts in 2018.

Dedicate Your Park — Or You Could Lose It As cities increasingly look for available real estate, a high-profile case in which New York City proposes to convert the Marx Brothers Playground in East Harlem to a high-rise development is bringing the issue of converting parks for other purposes into sharp relief. “Public parks are under constant threat of diversion to economic development and other non-park uses,” says James Kozlowski, law professor at George Mason University, who details another park conversion in Westfield, Massachusetts, in his Law Review column on page 26 of this issue of Parks & Recreation magazine.

In the case of Westfield, the court’s decision, rejecting the proposed conversion, hinged, in part, on whether the land had been dedicated as a park. As required under state law, the conversion would have to be approved by a two-thirds majority vote of the legislature, as well as comply with federal protections of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act, which requires any park funded by LWCF to be replaced by land of equal quality and value.

PREDICTION: Proposed conversions of park property to non-park uses without equal-value replacement will increase in 2018. Cities that have not been diligent in defending their parks, including dedicating them according to state law requirements, will lose valuable parks to development.

Dog Waste to Electricity Park and recreation agencies are beginning to move beyond solar as the primary source for renewable energy resources.

Greater application of wind energy and,

especially, biomass energy, that is, the conversion of plant and vegetable matter to usable energy, will begin to power more park and rec operations to demonstrate to the public the utility and value of renewable energy resources. Biomass, such as wood chips, horse stable waste, plant matter and, surprisingly, even dog waste, represents new potential sources of energy. A British nonprofit, the Malvern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, is funding a project to produce a small-scale anaerobic digester for parks so park patrons can deposit dog waste, which is composted to produce methane that is used to power park lighting (https://tinyurl.com/y84ot2kg).

PREDICTION: One or more forward-thinking park and rec agencies will seek innovative firms to produce and install anaerobic digesters in dog parks and encourage dog owners to deposit their collected dog doo therein, thus turning waste into energy.

Coyotes in Parks Are on the Rise, and That May Be a Good Thing Coyotes are becoming fully established in many U.S. cities and suburbs, a trend that does not surprise wildlife biologists and urban ecologists. Intelligent, omnivorous and extremely adaptable coyotes are apex predators that have moved in, and they are here to stay. Despite hysterical news headlines, such as “More Coyotes Are Prowling in Wichita and May See Your Pet as Lunch” (https://tinyurl. com/ycg22ujm — a true headline), local jurisdictions are realizing that the presence of coyotes in parks and on other public lands presents a more complex ecological challenge. However, information about coyote population numbers, density, territorial range, food habits and other important knowledge that biologists and natural resource managers need to evaluate their impact is sketchy.

“Compassionate conservation” advocates say that coyotes help keep urban ecosystems in balance, reducing popula-

tions of rats and keeping the deer population in check, among other benefits.

PREDICTION: One or more park and recreation agencies will rise to the defense of coyotes in 2018 and develop public education messages to show the value of wild coyotes in urban parks.

Economic Development Depends on Quality Parks What does economic development have to do with parks and recreation? Plenty, according to NRPA VP of Research Kevin Roth. He cites an NRPA study that shows local parks and recreation is responsible for generating $140 billion in economic impact and 1 million jobs annually. This fact is borne out in a recent editorial in Virginia’s Roanoke Times (https://tinyurl.com/yc4qvcrn) details why Humm Kombucha, a specialty health beverage brewer, chose the Roanoke Valley as the site of a new $10 million facility with 46 good jobs: The greenways, the bike paths — they aren’t frills.

Those are actually economic development infrastructure, just in a different form.

PREDICTION: You can place a sure bet that when Amazon finally selects the location for HQ2, the highly coveted second Amazon headquarters with its 50,000 jobs, it will be in a city that has a great park and recreation system with abundant trails, expansive greenways and blueways, and a populace that loves its park and recreation facilities.

Are You a Trend Spotter?

What are your top trends and predictions for 2018? Send me an email at rdolesh@ nrpa.org or post a comment to this article. Look for an early February post on NRPA’s blog Open Space at www.nrpa. org/blog to see top trends by readers and leading thinkers in our field.

Rich Dolesh is NRPA’s Vice President of Strategic Initiatives (rdolesh@nrpa.org).

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Courtesy of Tualatin Hills Parks and Recreation Department

Collaboration:

The Key to Development of Oregon’s Mountain View Champions Park

O

n October 14, 2017, nearly 3,000 people attended the grand opening of Mountain View Champions Park, a 21.5-acre athletic facility for people of all abilities. The facility includes side-by-side synthetic turf fields with lights and a specially cushioned field to accommodate wheelchairs and walkers; a natural-grass baseball field with a multipurpose outfield; extra-wide play structure ramps and paths; and a double slide built into the side of a hill that’s accessible without having to climb stairs and that allows children to slide down without assistance.

Many in Greater Portland’s diverse needs community see Mountain View as a model for all-abilities facilities. It’s amazing to think that it all started with a modest watercolor sketch, rendered in 2002, of a baseball diamond. “The district was interested in developing more programming for athletes with disabilities,” recalls Doug Menke, general manager for the Tualatin Hills Parks and Recreation District (THPRD), “and we saw that several baseball fields had been designed around the country. It was a known quantity, and there were none in Oregon at the time. As we looked closer, we realized that a baseball field alone might not best meet the needs of the community.” The baseball idea became a universal use field.

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Raising the Capital and Selecting a Site In 2008, working with the Trust for Public Land (a nonprofit that works to build parks and put land in public ownership), THPRD mounted a bond measure campaign to expand its offering. The measure passed and $100 million was raised for parks, trails and natural areas. From those funds, $13 million was earmarked for a park that would have some level of design and programming for athletes with disabilities and other people in need of accommodations.

Where this park would be located and the shape it would take were open questions. Menke adds: “We wanted to locate the park so we could provide the most benefit to the community — both in terms of providing for underserved

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neighborhoods and populations and getting the most bang for the buck. It had become apparent to us that a 2- or 3-acre neighborhood park wasn’t going to allow for the programming we were beginning to envision, so we focused on larger parcels and narrowed it down to three sites.

“In the end, we landed on a parcel adjacent to a middle school,” Menke says.

“This way, we could leverage part of their property — which made up almost half of the 21.5 acres — thus saving the public almost $9 million (as unimproved land in the region generally costs $800,000 an acre).

As far as the school district was concerned, it was a win — we were going to invest significant money in their property, and we only wanted to use it in the evenings and weekends during the school year.”

The site that was selected is in the unincorporated community of Aloha, on the southwest border of the city of Beaverton. The area was lacking in community and neighborhood parks; it’s also home to one of Washington County’s more demographically diverse populations.

Tualatin Hills Parks and Recreation District’s 21.5-acre “All Access” park

By Chris Santella

Enlisting Expert Input As it began planning for Mountain View Champions Park, the district realized that its first challenge was in defining exactly what “Access for All” meant in relation to those with disabilities. “ADA compliance is mandated and the guidelines are well-defined,” Menke says. “We wanted to go above and beyond those mandates, but we didn’t know exactly what that would look like.” To that end, THPRD decided to enlist the input of experts who serve people with disabilities and arranged a programmer’s summit. “We invited all the agencies in Washington County and the Greater Portland area to solicit ideas and feedback,” says Julie Rocha, Athletic Center Supervisor with THPRD who became the primary liaison with the dis

Courtesy of Tualatin Hills Parks and Recreation Department

The location dovetailed perfectly with THPRD’s new “Access for All” focus, a commitment to limiting barriers for all community members, whether those barriers relate to disabilities, cultural differences or socioeconomic challenges.

abled services community throughout the park’s development. “We wanted to learn about the needs they’d identified for their clientele and the kinds of barriers they encountered.”

Forty individuals from 20 organizations attended the programming summit, which was held at Providence Park, the home of the Portland Timbers MLS franchise and Portland Thorns NWSL franchise, and was sponsored by Providence Health & Services, a major healthcare provider in Oregon. Ten of those organizations

— FACT Oregon; Independent Living Resources, Special Olympics of Oregon, Autism Society of Oregon, Top Soccer/ Portland Timbers, Adventures Without Limits, Adaptive Sports Northwest, Adapt Training, the Beaverton School District and Edwards Center — ended up partnering with THPRD to help plan Mountain View and continue to assist with all abilities programming for the district.

“We went to Providence to see if they’d be willing to become involved with the park project,” explains Geoff Roach,

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M O U N TA I N V I E W

about the delivery of clinical services.

It’s finding ways to prevent people from getting sick. Facilitating ways for people to get exercise, as Mountain View does, is very consistent with this notion.”

The Timbers also recognized the merits of Mountain View and the synergies inherent in supporting the park’s development. “We’ve enjoyed a terrific partnership with the park district and have been very involved with TOPSoccer [a soccer program designed to meet the needs of players with diverse abilities], understanding that people with disabilities need a place to play,” says Todd Spear, senior vice president for corporate sponsorships for the Portland Timbers and Portland Thorns FC. “Supporting Mountain View was very much in line with the mission of our “Stand Together” program, which strives to harness the power of sports to improve the lives of children and families through targeted programs, deep partnerships and philanthropic giving.”

“People in my position had not been approached before about requirements for people with disabilities when it came to park development,” says Kandice Vinson,

Courtesy of Tualatin Hills Parks and Recreation Department

director of community partnerships for THPRD. “Their participation brought immediate credibility to our outreach to those in the disability community. It would also prove beneficial when it came time to raise funds.”

“For Providence — and for me on a personal level — the Mountain View Champions Park was a great philanthropic fit,” explains Janice Burger, CEO of Providence St. Vincent Medical Center, one of the larger hospitals in the Providence system that’s situated near the border of Portland and Beaverton.

“Providence is a large provider of health services to children, including Oregon’s only long-term care facility dedicated to children with severe developmental disabilities [the Center for Medically Fragile Children, part of Providence Children Center]. We have a special mission to serve children with special needs.”

Given the trends in today’s healthcare climate, supporting Mountain View also made sense for Providence. “Healthcare providers are becoming more accountable for the total health of the population they serve,” Burger adds. “It’s not just

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director of therapy at ADAPT Training in Beaverton. “THPRD not only wanted our input, but wanted to make sure that input from our clients — many of whom are wheelchair users — was taken into consideration. They really were interested in a park that all could access, and in making everyone feel involved. The input we provided in the planning process was being applied to the finished product. It’s been exciting to see the features we suggested being incorporated.”

Orchestrating a Capital Campaign After the initial programming summit, several design charrettes were held to further refine the shape the park should take. At this point, Menke and his team determined that additional funds would be necessary. “We asked the professionals serving the disability community what they needed in a park, and they told us,” Menke says: “A field that could manage the impact of a heavy wheelchair, for example; sidewalks that are wide enough for wheelchairs to pass each other, very gradual inclines to the playing areas to facilitate entry for people of all mobility levels. Tactile features for visually impaired people. We were already using a great deal of public money for the park [$13 million from the 2008 bond measure]. When we decided to go beyond the mandated ADA requirements, we’d have to go and find more money.” Oneand-a-half-million dollars, to be exact.

THPRD took a strategic approach to its outreach to the larger community, slowly building a coalition of strong, engaged supporters. Using the excitement the design charrettes generated, THPRD first sought to consolidate financial support from other relevant public agencies. “Washington County [where Aloha is situated] was the first outside group to give us money,” recalls Roach. “Then, we were able to bring Children of all abilities at play on Mountain View Champions Park’s specially cushioned athletic field.

in the state of Oregon.” With key government partners committed to help — and with six-figure commitments from both Providence and the Timbers/Thorns organization — the district was ready to engage foundations, corporations and individuals in the region.

“Once we could define what above and beyond meant, we felt we could attract a group of people who were interested in investing themselves and using their networks to open doors for private fundraising,” Roach adds. That group took the form of the Champions Council, an offshoot of the Tualatin Hills Parks Foundation, which raises money to support the park district.

“Everyone that you invite to be on the council needs to have a passion for the project,” Roach continues. “Ideally, you’ll get enough people and enough of an initial commitment to cover 10 percent of the overall fundraising goal. We asked that each member of the council commit to a major gift up front (major gifts began at $10,000). Every councilor contributed and most became major donors. And, we promised that they would only need to attend one meeting a year — but they had to be willing to take our calls. I think the lack of meetings resonated, and the council came together quickly. With Providence and the Timbers on board and the Champions Council engaged, we could go to the foundations and demonstrate that community leaders were behind this project.”

“The ‘Access for All’ theme resonated,” Menke says. “Most people have some connection to parks, or at least understand what they are. Our proposition — ‘wouldn’t it be nice if everyone had access?’ — was easily comprehensible.” Over two years, the Tualatin Hills Park Foundation’s Champions Council and THPRD raised nearly all the necessary funds: 50 percent came from

Courtesy of Tualatin Hills Parks and Recreation Department

Doug Menke (at podium), general manager for the Tualatin Hills Parks and Recreation District, addresses community members during the Mountain View Champions Park’s grand opening ceremony.

public sources and private foundations, 40 percent from corporate donors and the remaining 10 percent from individuals. “In the end, after we’d gone through all our networks, we were still about $100,000 short,” Roach adds. “We went back to the Timbers, and they doubled their initial investment.”

The capital campaign was thus completed.

Providing Ongoing Involvement From the outset, THPRD saw Mountain View Champions Park as a first step toward providing a greater array of recreational services to people in the community who, historically, had been underserved — not simply a one-off.

To that end, THPRD formed a steering committee populated by people from the nonprofits who had initially contributed their feedback to the park’s construction.

They will assist with programming for people with disabilities — not just for Mountain View, but for other park district programs as well.

With Mountain View Champions Park completed, the Tualatin Hills Parks Foundation turned its attention to raising funds on an ongoing basis to support programs

for people with disabilities across all district facilities. “We’re working with the steering committee to determine what’s next to help more people in our community participate in park activities,” Doug Menke explains.

“More court infrastructure? All-season futsal? Scholarships to help low-income residents take part in fee-based activities? All these ideas are on the table.”

One unanticipated development of the Mountain View project was that it’s brought THPRD employees closer together. “We had limited means to pull this off,” Menke observes. “To make it happen, our people had to set aside their territories, any battles for resources. The program of inclusiveness for our community members broke down barriers within the organization, too. The borders between departments — aquatics and developmental recreation and athletics centers — went away.

Our staff members grabbed onto this. They became champions for the larger cause.

Together, we were able to do something remarkable.”

Chris Santella is the Principal for Steelhead Communications (chris@steelheadcommunications.com).

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Designing Effective

RFPs

for Live Entertainment Events and Venues

By Adam Friedman

R

equests for Proposals (RFPs) are a common way to seek out qualified developers, operators, promoters and programmers with respect to publicly owned or presented concerts, music festivals and entertainment venues. No matter the size of the event, budget, park, agency or municipality, the goals in designing the RFP and the process around it should be the same. Attention to detail is essential no matter the scale.

In addition, it’s not only about low-bid or highest-financial guarantees, but also about selecting a contractor who understands your mission, can execute in compliance with all the applicable requirements and guidelines, and remains focused, from start to finish, on the production of this important part of your annual schedule and budget. In the end, the process and the ensuing arrangement must be defensible against claims and potential litigation emanating from various naysayers, including those who are simply sore losers. Yes, I know it’s hard to believe that entertainment folks may act immaturely.

Designing a Clear and Concise RFP Document Depending on the nature of the project,

there may be a sizable number of potential bidders, so it’s important to have an RFP that is carefully drafted to elicit clear and concise responses and, in turn, allows you to select the best candidate for the job.

The idea of using a general RFP form that is used for other supply or development projects is misguided, since concert promotion and venue development/operation is a unique business. General criteria may get at some of the obvious points that apply to any project, but miss the nuances associated with concert promotion and venues. This may result in your inability to assess the true expertise of the respondents. Likewise, simply taking pieces of actual concert venue RFPs or forms off the internet and cobbling them together may save time and money in the short term,

but there is potentially a bigger price to pay when you have selected the wrong operator. There is value in reading up on the topic and reviewing such agreements, but at the same time, it may be helpful to seek assistance from local experts (especially if they do not intend to bid) or from other NRPA members who have held similar events or developed similar facilities.

As with any RFP process, the goal is to elicit multiple bids providing for the option to choose from the best offers and operators. To achieve this, avoid requirements that only few players can satisfy and result in fewer potential responses.

It is certainly understandable that you want folks who are financially and organizationally capable of executing.

Tightening some qualifications too much may result in your process yielding only one or two responses. Not only will you have reduced your choices, but you also will have missed the opportunity to learn from experienced players who may not have satisfied all your criteria, but of-

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RFPS

fer concepts that you may want to deploy even if they are not selected. In addition, you may find yourself in the position of aligning two bidders who are super strong in different areas and, if partnered on the project, may yield a better result than choosing a single respondent who checked all the boxes, but was mediocre overall.

A key goal should be to draft an RFP and conduct a process that yields great bids and are rock solid in form and substance to avoid disputes and successfully defend against claims. It is not unusual to hear that the process was not open, was skewed in favor of certain types of bidders, didn’t take all stakeholders into consideration, or will lead to results that are unfavorable for the community and city.

Hosting a single show is certainly different than a permanent structure that hosts a season’s worth of events, but the issues may be the same. Unfortunately, the concert promotion world can be highly litigious. Although these processes have always been competitive, it has been heightened due to a shrinking supply of available venues along with an insatiable demand by promoters and venue operators to expand or protect their footprints at all costs.

There are plenty of folks who may not be happy with your selection or, for that matter, with you producing the event or building the venue in the first place. Community members may not be happy with the traffic or the noise that the event or venue can create. City officials may have had other plans for the property or may have been tied to one of the losing bidders. Losing bidders don’t like losing market share or losing, period. Potential claims should be considered in advance. To the extent possible, meet with these constituencies during the process so they can be heard and so you can incorporate some of their goals and requirements into the RFP. Understanding the issues at this juncture will allow you to craft an RFP that satisfies the ultimate arbiters, who decide if you and your winner adequately addressed the 48 Parks & Recreation

issues in the RFP and during the process.

It also takes away the most common complaint that the opponents simply weren’t provided an opportunity to be heard and allows you to invoke the adage, “speak now or forever hold your peace.” Doing this in advance is much more efficient. It reduces the risk of having the bids thrown out for a rebid (yes, it happens on small and big projects alike) or dealing with the hurdles of executing the approved plan in the face of major opposition. Avoid the additional expense from defending your process or of your project becoming a political football.

How to Make Money in a High-Risk, Low-Margin Business Although there are times when the goal is simply to cover your costs, there are opportunities to produce an event or develop an on-going operation that not only yields great benefits for the community, in terms of entertainment value, but also infuses significant cash into the agency.

In these cases, you must be cautious. The concert business is fraught with peril. In a world where folks can make tons of money, there are a lot of mouths to feed and a clear pecking order in terms of who takes home the cash. Headline artists and their representation, as you would expect, command the greatest share of the pie, with venue owners coming in next and the lonely promoter at the end of the chain.

The paradox is that the concert promoter has the greatest level of risk. The promoter often guarantees the artists’ compensation and has to pay for all other related event costs, including venue rent, show production and operational costs, such as security, ushers and ticket-takers, to name a few. Promoters typically only have ticket revenue from which to pay these expenses, while not sharing in the higher-margin streams, such as concessions, parking and sponsorship, which are reserved for venue owners and operators.

And, when ticket revenue is insufficient to cover expenses, the promoter takes a loss, while the artists walk away

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with a check and the venue keeps the ancillary revenue. Of course, this changes a bit when the promoter is also the venue operator, but venue operators also have elevated risk since those ancillary revenue streams may be insufficient to cover their overhead and debt service and/or recoup their capital investment on the site. In any event, it is critical to understand this basic paradigm when going out to RFP for a concert event or venue.

Municipal agencies often do not have inhouse expertise to take on the above-mentioned risks, which is reflected in their decision to bid from the beginning. Yet, in these processes the agencies are asked to consider bids that offer up some type of partnership arrangement with the promoter, who entices the agency with the right to participate in the promoter revenue streams from the event (ticketing) and tout the role of producer or promoter.

This sounds great, but it’s simply a way to get you to take on more risk than you should. Whether it’s a one-off event, an annual event, a summer concert series or permanent venue arrangement, you can express that bids that present the highest yield to the agency with the lowest risk will be awarded more points. In fact, the RFP can provide for, and define, financial guarantees or, at the very least, request the bidders to include them.

At the end of the day, your contribution is bringing a great location and amenities to a community hungry for entertainment. Promoters need to bring the talent, the marketing, the expertise and the willingness to take on the risk. Even if you are paying a fee for services as compared to charging rent, the promoters still need to take on the risk that the amount you pay is sufficient to cover all their costs.

Remember that partnership sounds great until you are sharing in the loss.

More than Just the Money While aggressive financial guarantees may be a predicate to a winning bid, especially for high-demand locations, it

shouldn’t be the only factor. A big bag of cash doesn’t tell the entire story. Big, which usually comes from the big player, doesn’t mean they will spend the requisite time to build the event, the market or put the site on the map. Conversely, a more nimble, smaller player, who may be willing to spend the time, simply may not have the muscle. Performance is equally important, and it is critical to assess respondents’ level of commitment.

Well-crafted RFPs in the concert space ask respondents to describe their business history and current business, such as the number of venues they control, number of annual events produced, tickets sold and financial wherewithal. Certainly, these are important questions and will shed light on the operator’s ability to perform under the contract. However, the ability to perform is only half the question. It is equally important to assess the level of focus and dedication

the respondent will commit to the new project. Questions that require the respondents to address how the new venue will fit within their current operations in the market or how they will succeed as a new market entry are essential.

How will the respondents maximize the new project by leveraging, or how will they address obvious conflicts arising from, these other operations? You can require that the bidder not only provide for financial guarantees, but also include performance guarantees, such as a certain level of admissions or number of shows per season that are tied to financial penalties. This is certainly helpful, but these will be too late and act as poor substitutes if the event or venue doesn’t yield all the benefits you intended for your various constituencies.

You are most likely looking beyond revenue for a viable operation that results in a host of benefits beyond just the money.

Financial and performance guarantees don’t always ensure great performances, but they are potential remedies if the operator fails. What happens when it is simply more lucrative for the operator to put the better shows in one of its other competing venues where it makes more money even after paying financial penalties to you?

A right to terminate isn’t a great remedy when it leaves your site tarnished and you in a weakened position at the bargaining table the next time around.

Don’t rely on the remedies, buy into the plan. It’s not simply about your strategy and objectives, but also about the bidders’. And, of course, once you feel comfortable about their commitment and plan for the project, ask for solid financial and performance guarantees, just in case.

Adam Friedman is a Live Entertainment Consultant and Owner of Friedman Entertainment Advisors (adam@ friedmanentertainment.com).

FOUR LETTERS. UNLIMITED POSSIBILITIES. Become a Certified Park and Recreation Professional Apply by February 28 to Get a FREE CPRP Prep Course (up to $250 value) To learn more, visit

www.nrpa.org/CPRP-VIP

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Great Reces sion’s The

Profound Impact on Parks and Recreation

By Nicholas Pitas, Ph.D., Austin Barrett, Ph.D., Andrew Mowen, Ph.D., and Kevin Roth, Ph.D.

L

ast fall, NRPA released the results from a study that shows local elected and appointed government officials see park and recreation funding as being fully discretionary and as a luxury.

The study (www.nrpa.org/localofficials), commissioned by NRPA and conducted by a team of Pennsylvania State University (PSU) researchers, found that local government officials see parks and recreation as a moderately important government service that solves some, but not all, of the issues vexing their community. Most notably, local government officials do not view parks and recreation as contributing to the solution of their most important issues: retaining and recruiting new businesses for their region.

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G R E AT R E C E S S I O N

The impact of this perception gap is significant. While most local government officials agree parks and recreation is well worth the dollars spent on it, they openly acknowledge that they target these agencies for large budget cuts when their city, town or county faces fiscal pressures. In fact, the scenario presented in that study is not an abstract hypothetical result, as evidenced by the sharp economic downturn at the end of the past decade, which provided a real-life example.

The Current Context The Great Recession of 2008 and 2009 weighed heavily on funding for all local government services, but no service bore the brunt of budget cuts more than park and recreation agencies. They suffered both in terms of actual dollars spent and in disproportionate reductions in funding relative to other local government services. Furthermore, park and recreation funding has been slow to recover since the end of the recession, suggesting that a more permanent structural shift has occurred.

This is the main takeaway from work 52 Parks & Recreation

”The data illustrates a clear divide in the financial support for parks and recreation between the pre- and post-recession periods.”

by PSU researchers (see “First in Our Hearts But Not in Our Pocket Books: Trends in Local Governmental Financing for Parks and Recreation from 2004 to 2014” by A.G. Barrett, N.A Pitas and A.J. Mowen in the Journal of Park and Recreation Administration). They used U.S. Census Bureau data to replicate analyses by Drs. John Crompton and Andrew Kaczynski, who reported on spending trends from the second half of the 20th century into the new millennium. Those earlier studies found that park and recreation agencies were the recipients of substantial increases in funding as communities across the Unit-

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ed States invested in park infrastructure, operational spending and staffing. However, the seismic economic shifts resulting from the Great Recession represented a dramatic change in public finances, highlighting the need for an updated review/analysis.

The key takeaway from the new research is startling. The data illustrates a clear divide in the financial support for parks and recreation between the pre- and post-recession periods. While parks and recreation received significant investment in the late 20th century, investments in local park and recreation services nationwide dramatically waned during and after the Great Recession.

Parks and Rec Spending vs.

Other Public Services Local park and recreation spending decreased by 7.2 percent after adjusting for inflation from 2003 to 2013 (Note: All dollar figures presented in this article are adjusted to 2014 values to control for the impact of inflation during the period of the analysis).

This is in stark contrast to the 63.3 percent spending growth experienced from

1989 to 2003. In the years leading up to the recession, park and recreation spending increased substantially, growing 14.7 percent from 2003 to 2008. But, this trend reversed during and after the recession, as spending plummeted by 21.2 percent from 2009 to 2013.

When compared to other local governmental services, this decrease was especially poignant. For example, in 2013, park and recreation spending accounted for 1.9 percent of total local government expenditures, down from 2.2 percent in 2000. Of the 10 local public services analyzed, only corrections (1.8 percent) and libraries (0.7 percent) received a smaller percentage of local government expenditures in 2013. On the flip side, local governments dedicated far larger percentages of their spending to education (42.3 percent), hospitals/health (9.6 percent) and transportation (6.3 percent).

Examining spending levels paints a picture of which services appointed and elected local government officials view as “essential” and which they see as a “luxury.” Although local government officials may sing the praises of parks and

”In the years leading up to the recession, park and recreation spending increased substantially, growing 14.7 percent from 2003 to 2008.” recreation, these are the very services targeted for the deepest and most dramatic cuts when the economic situation necessitates government belt-tightening.

Investment in Parks and Recreation vs. Capital Expenditures Total expenditures on parks and recreation rose from approximately $35.5 billion in 2000 to $40.7 billion in 2008, before falling to $32.5 billion by 2013.

Closer analysis finds that a sharp drop in capital spending largely accounted for the decline in total expenditures.

Capital expenditures fell from $12 billion in 2000 to $11.8 billion in 2008,

before taking a more dramatic plunge to $6.6 billion in 2013. Capital spending also slumped as a proportion of total park and recreation agency spending, from 33.9 percent in 2000 to a mere 20.3 percent in 2013. Because capital projects often take multiple years to complete and are likely contingent on bond referenda, the precipitous drop in capital expenditures might suggest a lack of optimism and confidence in the future on the part of local officials and park and recreation agencies. This is unfortunate because a recession often is an opportune time to make capital improvements for public entities with financial flexibility, as the price of materials and labor and the cost of borrowing are likely to be depressed.

While operational expenditures rose from $24.3 billion in 2000 to $28.9 billion in 2008, they pulled back during and after the recession to $25.9 billion by 2013. Relative to capital expenditures, operational expenditures accounted for an increasing proportion of total park and recreation agency spending, rising from 68.6 percent in 2000 to 79.7 percent in 2013.

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G R E AT R E C E S S I O N

Transformation of the Park and Rec Workforce Perhaps the most striking finding from this study was the sharp transformation of the workforce at local park and recreation agencies. Even though local park and recreation agencies added 42,212 jobs from 2000 to 2014, a revolutionary change was brewing in the field. First, most of the job growth occurred before the Great Recession, with only 3,217 of those jobs added after 2007. This represented a mere 0.8 percent increase in park and recreation employment during a time when the U.S. population had grown 4.8 percent.

Underlying those figures is a shift from fulltime to part-time employment, a trend that started during the 1980s. From 2000 to 2014, park and recreation agencies added 45,382 part-time jobs, while the number of full-time employees fell by a total of 3,170 positions.

Whereas full-time positions accounted for approximately 47.5 percent of total local park and recreation jobs in 2000, the percentage shrank to 41.3 percent by 2013.

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“One step toward this goal of closing the perceptions gap is to demonstrate how parks and recreation contributes to recruiting and retaining businesses...”

Implications Building budget pressures and the shrinking count of full-time park and recreation professionals in the public sector have important ramifications on the way park and recreation agencies are delivering services to their constituents. Even more so, this shift will have major implications about the job responsibilities of tomorrow’s park and recreation leaders and how agencies will recruit and retain their best employees.

Narrowing the Perceptions Gap About Parks and Recreation While it is not a new development that

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park and recreation agencies must compete for funding against many other local government services, the stakes are greater today as many cities, towns and counties remain constrained by limited tax receipts (both because of political pressure to keep tax rates low and a tax base that may not have recovered from the ravages of the last recession). Local government officials who view parks and recreation as a “nice to have” luxury have been slower to restore park funding relative to other services they view as more “vital,” such as, education, public safety and transportation.

One step toward this goal of closing the perceptions gap is to demonstrate how parks and recreation contributes to recruiting and retaining businesses — a top concern for local officials. Despite their perception, a solid, well-maintained park and trail network, combined with programming that serves all members of the community, sharply improve a region’s quality of life. Business leaders place significant weight on an area’s quality of life when they consider where to move their compa-

ny’s headquarters or to build new facilities.

Later this spring, NRPA will be releasing a new research study that highlights success stories, where park and recreation leaders are active participants in their regions’ business development activities.

Identifying and Securing New, Innovative Funding Sources While park and recreation leaders need to continue making the case for greater and more stable funding from their local government, their efforts may not sufficiently fill the funding shortfall afflicting many park and recreation agencies. Ongoing budgetary pressures, competition from other local government services and the inevitability of another recession in the future highlight the need for agencies to identify, and successfully retain, new sources of funding.

Some communities may have an opportunity to press for a dedicated revenue stream, such as a percentage of property or sales tax receipts earmarked to support park and recreation operating and/or capital expenditures. Agencies are identifying new opportunities to generate revenue from their operations — although ensuring services are financially accessible and affordable to all members of the community can pose a challenge. In other cases, there may be opportunities for public-private partnerships or grant opportunities from government entities and nonprofit foundations that could help close the funding gap.

Tomorrow’s successful park and recreation leaders will become acquainted with the advantages and disadvantages of each funding source and identify a funding plan that makes most sense for their agency.

More so, these leaders will develop productive working relationships with government and private-sector partners so they can effectively execute their financial plans.

Training Leaders for Tomorrow The growing percentage of part-time workers in the park and recreation profession has significant implications for both employers and educators. Park

and recreation agencies have a broader mission with more responsibilities while having access to fewer full-time professionals to deliver on the promise.

Future park and recreation leaders will have to be more agile and flexible as they wear more hats in their day-to-day role.

They will need to be more adept in fiscal management (including how to tap new sources of funding) and enhance their persuasion skills so they can advocate for parks and recreation to government leaders, potential funders and the public.

Universities educating tomorrow’s park and recreation leaders should be evolving their curriculums to prepare their students for the new reality of tighter fund-

”Future park and recreation leaders will...need to be more adept in fiscal management (including how to tap new sources of funding) and enhance their persuasion skills so they can advocate for parks and recreation to government leaders, potential funders and the public.” ing and fewer staff resources.

However, in many cases, today’s and tomorrow’s leaders may not have a park and recreation college degree on their résumé. They may come with educational backgrounds as diverse as the public they serve. As a result, NRPA and other organizations have a critical role to play to ensure park and recreation professionals are best prepared to meet the future changes and innovations facing the profession and society.

This means making sure new professionals entering the field have access to educational events, webinars and conference sessions that fill in present and future knowledge gaps they may have about parks and recreation so the industry may benefit from their diverse background and experience.

Based on the most recent park and recreation expenditure data, parks and

recreation clearly has not only borne the brunt fiscally from the Great Recession, but also the detrimental impact on budgets and staffing has continued years into the economic recovery. This suggests a more structural shift has occurred, and park and recreation agencies could be subject to an even greater struggle to maintain funding into the future. Leaders need to act now to address this challenge to ensure all members of their communities will be able to enjoy the benefits of parks and recreation well into the future.

Nicholas Pitas, Ph.D., is a Post-Doctorate Fellow at Pennsylvania State University (nap5045@psu. edu). Austin Barrett, Ph.D., is an Independent Scholar (austingordonbarrett@gmail.com).

Andrew Mowen, Ph.D., is Professor of Recreation, Park and Tourism Management at Pennsylvania State University (ajm194@psu.edu).

Kevin Roth, Ph.D., is NRPA’s Vice President of Research (kroth@nrpa.org).

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NRPA Update It’s Your Time to Shine Apply for or nominate someone for an NRPA Award

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he NRPA awards program consists of the National Gold Medal Award (presented by the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration in partnership with NRPA) and the NRPA Awards, which include the Innovation Awards, Spotlight Awards, scholarships and fellowships, and the Robert W. Crawford Hall of Fame. This program highlights the efforts of those who go above and beyond to make a difference in the community. It honors the most innovative and creative programs and initiatives in parks and recreation and the best and brightest in our field.

Is your agency innovative in problem-solving and addressing their community’s needs? Do you have a program or project that is a shining example of NRPA’s Three Pillars: Conservation, Health and Wellness, and Social Equity?

Or do you know someone who excels in our profession or is an amazing advocate for what you do? Then you should participate in the NRPA awards program!

New this year are the NRPA Innovation Awards (formally known as the Agency Awards). They continue to focus on the innovative programs and projects our agencies have accomplished, but with one slight twist. The four awardees from the four categories: Conservation, Health and Wellness, Social Equity and Park Design will be placed into a final round where the Best in Innovation Award winner will be decided by the membership and public. The Best in Innovation Award winner will be announced at the 2018 annual conference.

“We are extremely excited to offer this new awards program, which recognizes the most innovative agencies in our field.

If your agency is taking an innovative approach to any of the challenges we face as a profession, I encourage you to apply, as this is your time to shine,” says Cindi Wright, chair of the NRPA Awards Committee.

The NRPA Innovation Awards include: • Innovation in Health Award, which recognizes a park and recreation agen56 Parks & Recreation

cy leading an innovative project that fosters a culture of health in their community.

• Innovation in Conservation Award, which recognizes a park and recreation agency leading an innovative project that creates localized solutions for addressing global or regional environmental challenges.

• Innovation in Social Equity Award, which recognizes a park and recreation agency leading an innovative project that improves access to the benefits of local parks and recreation for everyone in the community, no matter the color of their skin, age, income level or ability.

• Innovation in Park Design Award, which recognizes a park and recreation agency that manages a unique park or facility that embraces innovative technology, strategies or programs to improve their community.

There are the NRPA Spotlight Awards, which honor an individual’s efforts — both professional and personal — in the field of parks and recreation.

Award winners include park and recreation professionals, volunteers, engaged community members and park advocates. There are five individual awards that are presented annually. Don’t miss a chance to be recognized or to honor someone who embodies the best in parks and recreation.

The National Gold Medal Award

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Cindi Wright, chair, NRPA Awards Committee

honors communities nationwide that demonstrate excellence in long-range planning, resource management and innovative approaches to delivering superb park and recreation services with fiscally sound business practices.

The National Gold Medal Award program includes seven classes: five classes based on population, one class for armed forces recreation and one class for state park systems which is presented in oddnumbered years. At the beginning of each calendar year, agencies are invited to submit applications for consideration, with a deadline of mid-March. Finalists are announced at the end of April, and the Grand Award recipients are announced at the NRPA Annual Conference in the fall.

To learn more about each award, scholarship and/or fellowship, visit www.nrpa.org/awards.

Applications for all the NRPA awards programs and scholarship and fellowships are open now through March 23.

Visit www.nrpa.org/awards to apply today.

NRPA Connect Networks

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e would like to take this opportunity to THANK the 2017 NRPA Connect Network Leadership and WELCOME the 2018 NRPA Connect Network Leadership. The 2018 Leaders are already well along in their planning for 2018 with new initiatives, including improving the connection professionals make through NRPA Connect, additional virtual roundtables, possible mentoring opportunities and much more. An easy way to grow your professional network is to join and become active in one of the following NRPA Connect Networks today:

Aquatics Network

Parks and Conservation NRPA members who advocate for the sound planning, development and management of parks, natural/cultural resources, outdoor recreation, and environmental education and conservation programs.

Young Professional

NRPA members who work in, or are interested in, aquatic facilities and programs. The Aquatics Network has a unified voice on issues involving the safety, health and quality of aquatics-related programs, facilities and services for the enjoyment of all Americans.

NRPA members who are students and young professionals as well as those who are interested in engaging in topics or discussions concerning students and young professionals.

Armed Forces Recreation Network NRPA members who work in or are interested in Armed Forces Recreation. This can include military personnel, Defense Department civilian employees and individuals in agencies, such as the Red Cross and United Services Organization, that provide recreation services to military personnel.

Education Network NRPA members affiliated with colleges or universities who are engaged in teaching, administration, research or extension services related to parks and recreation. This network also serves members who would also like to engage in discussion topics concerning the education of parks and recreation.

Leadership Development Network NRPA members who are or aspire to be park and recreation agency leaders in federal, county, local and special district government and in private and voluntary agencies.

Networks are open to all NRPA members. They are a great way to meet fellow professionals and get engaged. If you’re interested in joining one or more of these networks, go online to www.nrpaconnect. org/participate/join-community or contact Hayley Herzing at hherzing@nrpa. org.

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NRPA Update

#MoveWithHeart During American Heart Month

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uring American Heart Month this February, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) is challenging Americans to participate in a national pledge to #MoveWithHeart. Physical activity can help prevent heart disease. To encourage people to move more, NHLBI is asking you to take a pledge (anytime between now and March 2) by uploading a video of yourself saying, “I pledge to move more for my heart health.”

“Challenge your friends, family and colleagues on social media to

NRPA is proud to partner with the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute’s The Heart Truth® program on this important initiative.

Advocate for Parks and Recreation Without Going to Capitol Hill

join you.”

Only about 22 percent of adults meet the federal government’s physical activity guidelines. Spending just 2 1/2 hours per week doing physical activity that gets your heart pumping and leaves you a little breathless can have significant heart health benefits. Get creative by demonstrating your favorite physical activity in your pledge. Challenge your friends, family and colleagues on social media to join you. Submit your pledge at www.movewithheartpledge. com or share on Twitter or Instagram using #MoveWithHeart.

In addition to the pledge, the NHLBI has a variety of educational resources that can be used throughout American Heart Month and beyond to help people learn more about heart disease and how to be more active. Find social media resources, fact sheets, a new Move With Heart video (www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix0L91x_NNs&feature=youtu.be) and more at www.nhlbi.nih.gov/heartmonth.

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Sign up to become a Park Champion, then use NRPA’s resources to guide you through asking your U.S. representative and U.S. senators to support federal policy that helps parks and recreation in your community.

www.nrpa.org/Park-Champions

NRPA Provides Microgrant Funding And information about additional funding opportunities

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RPA, in partnership with The Lakeshore Foundation, awarded four local park and recreation agencies $1,000 each in microgrant funding to implement an innovative, inclusive project. This funding is part of NRPA’s Parks for Inclusion initiative, dedicated to ensuring that everyone has equal access to the benefits of parks and recreation.

Local park and recreation agencies were invited to submit proposals for innovative projects or programs to create and expand opportunities for inclusive health and wellness programs and activities for those with physical and cognitive disabilities. The microgrants were awarded for the following projects: • The McBeth Recreation Center in Austin, Texas, is implementing a “Learn to Ride Adaptive” bike program in its facility. An adaptive cycle will be used by community members with cognitive and physical disabilities.

• In the city of Prichard, Alabama, the “Playing Together Project” allows access to an intergenerational commu-

nity garden using mobile park ramps and adaptive signage.

• Philadelphia Parks & Recreation in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is developing an inclusive “Grow Up Green Club” for preschool-age children on the autism spectrum, as well as for typically developing children to explore nature. Following the pilot, the program will be developed into lesson plans and trainings.

• The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board implemented mobile sensory spaces, called “Sense Tents,” for park users to regulate the senses and provide a calming space when relief is needed at events.

To learn more about NRPA’s Parks for

Inclusion Initiative, visit www.nrpa.org/ parksforinclusion.

Other Funding Resources To achieve the goal of ensuring everyone has access to a great park, NRPA works to provide the park and recreation community with opportunities to fund projects that matter to their communities. Thanks to the support of partners who understand that investment in parks means an investment in the health and livelihood of our communities, we’re thrilled to also offer the following grant opportunities: • Meet Me at the Park Play Spaces Grants — With support from The Walt Disney Company, NRPA is now accepting grant applications for innovative play space projects. In addition, the popular Meet Me at the Park Earth Day voting campaign will take place throughout the month of April.

• Commit to Health Healthy Out-ofSchool Time Grants — With support from the Walmart Foundation, NRPA is offering grants to support access to healthy foods through the federal nutrition programs at park and recreation sites. These grants also support the implementation of healthy eating and physical activity standards and nutrition education during out-of-school time.

• 10-Minute Walk Technical Assistance — With support from The JPB Foundation and an anonymous funder, NRPA will be offering grants and technical assistance to support planning efforts that help cities increase access to high-quality parks within a 10-minute walk.

Visit www.nrpa.org/our-work/GrantFundraising-Resources to learn about these and other funding resources and the deadlines for applying.

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NRPA Update

Member Spotlight: Greg Brown

By Vitisia Paynich

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reg Brown grew up loving nature. As a kid, he spent most of his time outdoors until the sun went down, while summer breaks meant working in his dad’s side business, mowing lawns. Following high school, Brown attended the University of South Florida, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in biology. His plan was to attend medical school, but fate had other plans for him. Instead, he married and bought his dad’s lawn-care business and gradually expanded it into landscape design. In 1997, he jumped onto the park and recreation track and accepted a job with the City of Largo Recreation, Parks and Arts Department located in Pinellas County, Florida. Brown became a board-certified master arborist and, in 2000, was named parks superintendent. In his role, Brown is responsible for nature park programming, park planning, parks maintenance, athletic maintenance, state roadway beatification, budgeting, Largo’s urban forest and the county’s largest holiday light show.

Parks & Recreation magazine recently talked to Brown about the important role conservation plays in his community, what makes his job so rewarding and what changes he sees for his agency and community in 2018.

Parks & Recreation: How does conservation fit into what you do at the agency?

Greg Brown: Conservation is really important to us. Probably our biggest challenge with that are exotics. Although we deal with snakes down south, our biggest problem is with exotic plants and trees, because they lower the biodiversity in some of our properties. Over the 20 years I’ve been here at the agency, we’ve spent millions of dollars to combat those exotics that threaten our environment. We do that so we have more native animal, tree and plant species on that same acre of land.

With exotics, we have something called the air potato here. Its vine grows up to 70 feet a year and drops these big potatoes that help spread throughout our parks. The University of Florida developed a beetle, and we were the first (city of Largo) to release it to combat the air potato. Every news agency you can think of — from newspapers to radio to TV — 60 Parks & Recreation

covered [our story about] releasing the air potato beetles into the wild and how they have worked beautifully.

P&R: What are some challenges you face in your job? How do you overcome them?

Brown: Probably one of the biggest challenges is motivation of the city budgets.

Our time is always spent [figuring out] how we can make the parks system in the city better. And, we’re constantly vying for positions against public safety and a couple other departments to make sure that we’ve got what we need to maintain and keep improving the parks system. And I think an important one for me is hiring and retaining qualified staff — that’s big.

I mean, you can have the best facilities in the world, but they won’t be nice for very long if you don’t have great staff to take care of and watch out for those facilities.

P&R: What do you find the most rewarding about what you do and why?

Brown: First, I think what I find most rewarding is that when we’ve planned and built something for the park, or park amenities, and we need to go out and talk to the people who are using it and we hear that it’s well-used and well-loved; that’s probably my No. 1 reward that I get back from the com-

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munity. Secondly, we’re in the most urbanized county in Florida — Pinellas County.

Being the keeper of the urban forest, I think, is one of our most cherished assets we take care of in the city. Trying to regain as much of the urban forest as we can — and protecting what we have — are very important and the most rewarding to us.

P&R: What changes do you see happening in parks and rec or in your own agency in 2018?

Brown: It’s been coming the last several years, but I’d say improved value in the roles for park and recreation professionals in the holistic health of their citizenry. People value their time outside; they need that peace, quiet and recovery that nature can bring.

And, that’s definitely important to us. In the last three years, we’ve added five fitness zones in our parks. Those are free and offer things like body-weight workout gyms that are outside in the shade. They’ve been wellloved and well-used and will continue to be.

Circling back to urban forestry, that’s been very important for us. But, it’s a constant battle between building the gray infrastructure — you know, new buildings, roads and all that — and finding space for the green parts of the city that everybody loves. And lastly, the other challenge is to just continue to keep being on the economic development side of the city that makes people just want to stay because of our facilities and the aesthetics that our parks and trees offer, as well as what makes people from the outside want to come here.

— Vitisia Paynich, Freelance Writer for Parks & Recreation magazine

Networking Made Easy

Hot Topics

It’s been a busy month full of discussions on NRPA Connect. Visit the only professional networking platform dedicated to your profession to learn about the latest hot topics and newest trends in parks and recreation.

Repurposing Old Tennis Courts — Does your agency have old tennis courts that it’s looking to renovate or repurpose? Your colleagues weigh in on the benefits of these two options and share ideas for repurposing, including transforming the courts into pickleball courts, small dog parks, skate parks and futsal courts!

Annual Reports — Annual reports are always a hot topic among NRPA members. Whether it is your first time writing an annual report or you are looking to update an existing one, you’ll find several examples from across the country on NRPA Connect.

CPSI — NRPA’s Certified Playground Safety Inspector (CPSI) is a popular topic among professionals this month.

Questions include: Who in your department is a certified playground safety inspector? Is it typically the director, staff members or maintenance staff? Who does the inspections on the playgrounds in your department? Chime in today!

Insurance for Facilities — An agency’s risk manager requires any renter for any facility, big or small, to carry a $1 million insurance policy to rent the facility, including facilities like picnic shelters. As a result, small groups or families generally cannot rent picnic shelters for birthday parties or similar events. How does your agency make small rentals, such as these, more accessible to the public?

Have a question or idea you would like to share? Connect with colleagues across the country today at www.nrpaconnect. org/home.

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e know that networking is extremely important to NRPA members, so we offer an online networking platform, called NRPA Connect, exclusively for park and recreation professionals. This members-only website is a valuable resource where you can receive information, ask industry questions and get insight into trends in the field. So, how do you “Connect?”

Following are some FAQs to help you optimize your use of NRPA Connect:

How do I get started?

It’s fast and easy to get started, just visit www.nrpaconnect.org. To log in, use the same username and password you use to access your profile on www.nrpa.org. You have full control over your Connect profile: set your privacy preferences, so you decide what other members see, upload a profile picture and add your biography.

You can edit your profile at any time under the “Edit Contact Information” section and even transfer information straight from your LinkedIn account.

How do I network with my peers through NRPA Connect?

You can engage with your peers in a few ways: join a topical network, share

a file in the Knowledge Center, or post an idea or inquiry on the Open Forum.

In the Knowledge Center, members can view and share documents — performance review templates, sponsorship policies, best practices of volunteer management, guidelines for establishing fees and charges, master plans and much more — from agencies across the country.

How do I control the amount of emails I’m receiving?

How you set your profile determines the amount of and when you will receive emails. You have the option to set it for real-time notifications so you don’t miss a minute of the conversation or for daily digest so you can see all the conversations that happened the day before in one convenient place. You also have the option to set different email preferences for each community you visit. There is even a consolidated weekly digest, and you can pick which day that arrives!

Having access to experts in your field is invaluable, it allows you to gain a new perspective. Network with peers, get inspired and learn, all from anywhere on any device. Take advantage of this NRPA member benefit today! Contact Hayley Herzing at hherzing@nrpa.org if you have questions.

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©Myles Mellor

Parks & Recreation Crossword

Across 1 What boomers are now becoming 7 Major disaster that hit Puerto Rico last year 10 “___ Baba and the Forty Thieves” 11 Animal friend 12 The key to handling natural disasters 14 People who work together for common goals 16 Gets coverage for 19 Paintings, etc.

20 Quality of rebounding and springing back, after disasters, for example 22 Popular 23 Dream into the future 26 Three-line Japanese poem 28 Harvey, for example 30 Help message 31 Light metal symbol 32 Environmentally friendly color 33 Procedures

Down 1 A key concern regarding hosting aquatics events 2 ___ Capitan 3 Bite in the air 4 Starts a business 5 Negotiator, abbr.

6 Keep on an even keel 7 Program to ensure the elderly are provided with adequate food, 3 words 8 Little league score, abbr.

9 New England’s Cape ___ 13 Above 15 Concert venue, perhaps 17 Manta ___ 18 Artistic figures often seen in parks 20 Net support on a court 21 Third in a family 24 Valley 25 Crew ___ (sweater type) 27 Problem to be solved 28 Expression of affection 29 Aye’s opposite

Check the answers to the crossword at www.nrpa.org/crossword. As an added bonus for completing the crossword, you can enter a drawing to receive a coupon for 30 percent off any online learning course. The winner will be randomly selected and notified on February 28, 2018.

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NRPA is dedicated to providing learning opportunities to advance the development of best practices and resources that make parks and recreation indispensable elements of American communities.

Find out more at www.nrpa.org/education.

SCHOOLS AND CONFERENCES NRPA CAREER CENTER With more than 17 million page views since its inception, the NRPA Career Center is the online resource for reaching qualified park and recreation professionals you won’t find anywhere else. Employers can post job descriptions, search résumés, set up résumé alerts and manage applications. On top of that, each job posting is viewed by an average of almost 1,000 job seekers. Posting your job openings in the NRPA Career Center not only gives you the best exposure, but can also save you money. Until February 28, you can get 20 percent off NRPA single 30-day and NRPA seven-day job postings (http://careercenter.nrpa.org/rates/) by using the promo code NEWYEAR18 at checkout.

March 11-16, 2018

November 4-8, 2018

August 26-31, 2018

September 25-27, 2018, Indiana Convention Center

www.nrpa.org/education

MAR

1-2 1-2 6-7 8-9 14-15 15-16 28-30 29-30

Fort Collins, Colorado Seattle, Washington Ellensburg, Washington Canton, Michigan Lawrence, Kansas Margate, Florida Cheney, Washington North Miami, Florida

APR

5-6 9-10 25-26 26-27 28-29

Riverside, California Brookhaven, Georgia Fife, Washington Derby, Kansas Gainesville, Florida

www.nrpa.org/AFO

FEB

Sacramento, California Orlando, Florida Moore, Oklahoma

7-9 7-9 21-23

Hulbert, Oklahoma Meridian, Indiana Shelbyville, Tennessee

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13-14 22-23 28-3/1

1-3 6-8 6-8 7-9 13-15 13-15 14-16 20-22 21-23 27-29 27-29 28-30

Louisville, Kentucky Phoenix, Arizona Shawnee, Kansas Newport News, Virginia Bismarck, North Dakota Long Beach, California Plymouth, Minnesota Ashburn, Virginia Boston, Massachusetts Wheeling, Illinois St. Charles, Missouri Mercer Island, Washington

APR

CPSI PROGRAM

AFO PROGRAM

All NRPA Schools are held at Oglebay Resort in Wheeling, West Virginia, unless otherwise noted.

3-5 9-11 10-12 11-13 18-20

East Hartford, Connecticut Ashland, Nebraska Danville, California Wall, New Jersey Novi, Michigan

www.nrpa.org/CPSI

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Operations Some Innovative Playground Design Trends and Fundraising Resources

By Faith Munsell

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ublic playgrounds are intended to be places where children can enjoy positive experiences that enhance their physical, mental and social well-being.

They also contribute to a sense of community and are a source of economic growth for communities.

However, some challenges exist that make playgrounds less than pleasurable: safety concerns resulting from outdated equipment, hazardous surfaces, such as concrete or asphalt, lack of accessibility for children with disabilities and the threat of crime (a growing concern), to name a few. Funding shortages, the result of tightened budgets, only serve to make matters worse.

Resolving these challenges requires park and rec professionals to engage in some out-of-the-box thinking. Fortunately, novel trends in design combined with innovative approaches to playground use and access to a variety of funding sourc-

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es are making playgrounds a place to gather, play and stay.

Trends in Playground Design Following are a few of the design trends that are reinvigorating playgrounds: Themed Playgrounds – Theme playgrounds continue to be a popular trend.

Whether they echo a medieval castle, pirate ship or outer space, these creative, holistic play spaces are breaking the mold of traditional playgrounds to battle ever-shrinking attention spans.

Take, for example, Morgan’s Wonderland Inspiration Island Splash Park in San Antonio, Texas, which carries a pi-

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rate theme. Believed to be the first-ever waterpark built for people with disabilities, it allows children of all abilities to pretend to set sail on a pirate ship or search for buried treasure as they enjoy keeping cool while playing in the sun.

Inclusive Playgrounds – One of the newest trends in playground concepts, inclusive playgrounds, goes beyond just accessibility (as the ADA defines the term) by encouraging and enabling disabled and non-disabled children alike to engage with one another in play and discovery.

There are no “special needs” sections, because the equipment is designed to challenge all children.

ARISE at the Farm, an accessible, inclusive recreation center (http://nofault. com/blog/project-spotlight-arise-at-thefarm-in-chittenango-new-york) on a 77acre working horse farm in Chittenango, New York, is one example. It focuses on the needs and interests of individuals with disabilities in the Central New York region. In addition to an all-inclusive playground, the facility offers a variety of recreational activities, including therapeutic horseback riding and an accessible fishing pond.

Adventure Playgrounds – Although they may seem like a new idea, adventure playgrounds originated in 1931 when Danish landscaper and playground designer Carl T. Sørensen noticed that no matter what he built, children seemed to find new ways to play on his traditional playground equipment beyond its intended purposes. His resulting question — What if children could be given raw materials to construct their own playgrounds?

— would usher in a new way of looking at the idea of play.

Today, there are approximately 1,000 adventure playgrounds around the world, though none better than Adventure Playground in Berkley, California.

With boats, forts, towers and a zip line for children above the age of six, it offers a unique play environment and has earned recognition as a “top 10” playground by National Geographic.

Innovative Approaches to Playground Use Combined with these design trends are innovative approaches to the role playgrounds serve. Two worth noting include the use of musical instruments and multigenerational playgrounds.

Music Education – Playground developers are now installing musical instruments in playgrounds to stimulate speech, cognitive and motor development for children with autism and other sensory issues. Examples of instruments include tuned drums, chimes and bells.

The Freenotes Harmony Park in Moab, Utah, offers the opportunity for persons of any age or ability to interact with real musical instruments, including drums, chimes and xylophones. No musical knowledge is necessary either; the park promises there is no such thing as a wrong note!

Multigenerational Playgrounds – One of the best new trends in public play environments is the growing number of multigenerational playgrounds. These spaces include something for everyone, such as shade and seating areas where grandparents or parents can rest while children play, but more and more, they also feature fitness equipment, game tables and other amenities to engage adults, who also want to play in the outdoors.

Equipment designed with adults in mind includes permanent obstacle courses, trailside exercise stations and even adultsized swings.

Funding Playground Improvement, Development Since the Great Recession of 2007, recovery of the funding for parks and recreation has lagged behind other government services (read more about this in “The Great Recession’s Profound Impact on Parks and Recreation” on page 50 in this issue of Parks and Recreation). As a result, finding the funds to make improvements to existing playgrounds and building new ones requires municipal park and recreation managers to get creative and look for other revenue sources.

In addition to hosting a special event and/or reaching out to individual donors and local businesses, consider approaching large corporations, which often have budgets that can help finance your playground. Of course, you’ll have to sell them on your project by showing them the return on investment they can enjoy, but by investing a bit more time and energy in crafting your “ask,” you may be able to secure the funding for most, if not all, of your project.

Your search for grant opportunities should begin with a visit to the NRPA Grants and Fundraising Resources webpage (http://www.nrpa.org/our-work/ Grant-Fundraising-Resources/). Also, check out “NRPA Provides Microgrant Funding” on page 59 in this issue of

Parks & Recreation, to learn about some innovative projects that recently received funding and some upcoming funding opportunities.

Finally, the internet has given rise to a number of crowdsourced fundraising platforms that are another great financing resource. Here are three of the most popular: • Fundraise.com (www.fundraise.com) is a social fundraising platform that allows anyone to create and manage online fundraisers.

• Crowdrise (www.crowdrise.com) is an innovative, cost-effective online fundraising website for personal fundraisers, nonprofit fundraising and event fundraising.

• Neighborly (https://neighborly.com/) connects communities with new funding sources and citizens with the community projects they care about.

John Adams, the first U.S. vice president and the country’s second president, is quoted as saying, “Problems are often opportunities in disguise.” Playground funding challenges offer park and rec professionals an opportunity to get creative by focusing on new trends in design, play-space innovation and fundraising resource discovery.

Faith Munsell is Manager of the Playground & Sport Surfaces Blog for No Fault Sport Group.

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(ISSN 0031-2215) is published monthly by the National Recreation and Park Association, 22377 Belmont Ridge Rd., Ashburn, VA 20148, a service organization supported by membership dues and voluntary contributions. Copyright Š2018 by the National Recreation and Park Association. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Opinions expressed in signed articles are those of the writers and not necessarily those of NRPA. Issued to members at the annual subscription price of $30, included in dues. Subscription: $46 a year in the U.S.; $56 elsewhere. Single copy price: $7. Library rate: $58 a year in the U.S.; $68 elsewhere. Periodical postage paid at Ashburn, Virginia, and at additional mailing offices. Editorial and advertising offices at 22377 Belmont Ridge Rd., Ashburn, VA 20148. 703.858.0784. Postmaster, send address changes to Parks & Recreation, 22377 Belmont Ridge Rd., Ashburn, VA 20148.

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Park Bench

Good Lookin’ Out Alsip Chuck Epley, mayor of Plainville, Illinois, had a dream. Much of the community’s playground equipment was in disrepair and some was more than 80 years old. He wanted to buy new playground equipment for the children of his small ruaral community. “We got a lot of grass — a ball diamond and some tennis courts, but we don’t have a lot of playground equipment,” Epley shared in a recent Chicago Tribune article.

But Plainville couldn’t afford new equipment. It couldn’t even afford to apply for a matching grant for new equipment because it lacked the resources to come up with the other half. So, last summer, when Epley learned of other towns that, with the help of grants, were replacing their equipment, he enlisted the help of some Facebook-savvy friends to put the word out, soliciting donations of that old playground equipment.

Alsip Park District Commissioner Jerri-Lynn Kleina saw the Facebook post and reached out to Epley. In less than 24 hours, Jeannette Huber, CPRP, director of parks and recreation, and Epley were in contact and the idea was pitched to the Alsip Park Board of Commissioners about donating the existing equipment to Plainville. “The board loved the idea and decided unanimously to help the town,” says Huber. “We have a trailer in our lot now, and staff is working to remove the equipment and store it there for shipment to Plainville.” This spring, the children of Plainville should have “new-to-them” playground equipment to enjoy.

Huber does not know of a similar repurposing of equipment involving parks, but hopes that it won’t be the last time. “I am extremely proud of our board and staff for not only their commitment to Alsip, but also their willingness to help a smaller community in need,” Huber adds. “Although our Apollo project is not a grant project, we have been successful with other projects over the years.

This is kind of like a ‘pay it forward’ concept, where we now have the opportunity to help another community.”

The removal of Alsip’s 20-year-old playground equipment paves the way for the installation of the community’s new rocket-themed playground with inclusive play pieces that’s scheduled to open June 1. The rocket theme harkens back to an earlier spacethemed playground, a nod to the Apollo space program for which the park is named.

— Sonia Myrick, Executive Editor for Parks and Recreation magazine.

72 Parks & Recreation

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