Parks & Recreation December 2016

DECEMBER 2016 W W W. N R PA . O R G

EVENTS & CELEBRATIONS

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contents december 2016 volume 51 | number 12 | www.parksandrecreation.org

FEATURES

32 Innovative Community Celebrations

in an Urban Green Space Pittsburgh’s Schenley Plaza is programmed to entertain the entire community Scott Roller

36 Trojan Park: Welcome to the Parks Build Community Family The more than 2,000 residents of Wellston, Missouri, get to know their newest neighbor Paula M. Jacoby-Garrett

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Read the digital edition of this issue online at http://ezine. parksand recreation.org.

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contents december

departments 9 Letters

columns 6 Perspectives Rural Park and Recreation Agencies Struggle to Find Funding Barbara Tulipane, CAE

8 Editor’s Letter Celebrating Community and People Gina Mullins-Cohen

12 Research NRPA Research Year in Review 12 Park Pulse: Americans Want Healthier Food and Drink Options 14

18 Advocacy Advocacy Through Storytelling Jayni Rasmussen

16 People for Parks The Health Benefits of a Bicycle-Pedestrian Trail Lisa L. Gezon, Emily McKendry-Smith and Anne Kristen Hunter

20 Law Review Fateful Dive into ‘Closed’ Park Pond Pool James C. Kozlowski, J.D., Ph.D.

40 NRPA Update NRPA Hits the Red Carpet to Promote Recycling with ABC 40 The NRPA Board of Directors Is Now Accepting Applications 42 NRPA Connect Hot Topics 42 Member Spotlight: Patty Wieliczko 44 Member Benefit: Give the Gift that Keeps On Giving 45 Test Your Park and Recreation Knowledge 45 Professional Development Calendar 46

48 Operations Saving Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park from Concert Damage 48 Aquatics Trends 50

52 Products

26 Conservation Parks, Recreation and Resilience Roland Richardson and Jennifer Cox

28 Health and Wellness Setting the Table for a Successful Summer at South Burlington Recreation and Parks Holly Baker and Brett Leonard

30 Social Equity Design, Place and Indigenous Ways: Working with Local Communities Dr. PennElys Droz, David Jaber and Scott Moore y Medina

53 Marketplace 55 Reader Service and Advertiser Index 56 Park Bench Passport to Fun! Sonia Myrick

Cover Photo by Wing Ho Tsang Dreamstime.com

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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

Rural Park and Recreation Agencies Struggle to Find Funding Shortly after the 2016 NRPA Annual Conference, I attended the Idaho Recreation and Park Association/Montana Trails Recreation and Park Association Conference and met some great NRPA members — people with whom I often don’t get a chance to talk. I also had the opportunity to tour some great park sites and reconnect with long-time NRPA members from the West, including our past Board of Directors Chair, Janna Rankin.

Janna and I met for breakfast in a small town in Idaho, and as we were leaving the restaurant, I struck up a conversation with a woman who was trying to raise funds for a swimming pool in her community. The kids in this community have zero access to a pool. Although this community is located about an hour away from Jackson Hole — home of more billionaires than any other place in the United States — more than half the residents live in poverty. This community has no wealth, few thriving businesses and not much of a tax base to support the capital and operating costs of a public swimming pool.

Her situation reinforced what I heard at the state conference from a number of our members. They said that the obvious solution — seeking a grant from the stateside program of the Land and Water Conservation Fund to provide half the cost of parkland acquisition or capital development of park and recreation facilities — just wasn’t an option because they couldn’t come up with the 50 percent match.

NRPA has focused a lot of energy, attention and resources on urban parks and recreation, and we regularly and quite successfully seek grant funding from foundations, corporations and other national-level funders to support programs in urban communities. The projects that address urban poverty and equity issues are highly attractive to corporate and philanthropic funders because they feel they get more bang for their buck, since 80 percent of the U.S. population now lives in urban metropolitan areas.

The needs in cities are immense, but we must also lift up all underserved communities, regardless of where they are. While most people believe that rural communities have ample recreation opportunities since there is more open space, the reality is entirely different — there are often few or no recreation options for kids in poor, rural communities.

NRPA needs to lead the way in finding solutions to ensure that people everywhere have access to good recreation programs. After all, we know how to develop creative partnerships with other sectors of society and business to support quality park and recreation services and programs. After my trip out West, I am going to do all I can to help people in poorer, more rural communities. All children and families, wherever they live, deserve the benefits of parks and recreation.

BAR BAR A T ULIPAN E, C AE President and CEO 6

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

Bartlett Park District Bartlett, Illinois

Chicago Park District Chicago, Illinois

National League of Cities Washington, D.C.

Karen Kress

Past Chair Susan Trautman, CPRP Great Rivers Greenway District St. Louis, Missouri

Treasurer Michael Kelly Chicago Park District Chicago, Illinois

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

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

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Jesus Aguirre Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation Seattle, Washington

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Yellowstone Park Foundation Emigrant, Montana

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Susan Trautman, CPRP The Great Rivers Greenway District Saint Louis, Missouri Houston Parks and Recreation Houston, Texas Alliance for a Healthier Generation New York, New York

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EDITOR’S LET TER

Celebrating Community and People Nothing quite compares to the expression on a child’s face when he or she sees a brand new park for the first time, especially when it’s located in a community that has been forgotten or simply ignored. For children living in communities where open space and playgrounds seem far out of reach, the opening of a new park is a cause for celebration and an opportunity to play.

NRPA’s Parks Build Community leads the charge in strengthening local communities by either building a park from scratch or refurbishing once-neglected parks in underserved areas. Parks restore faith within communities by investing in their futures. This year, NRPA’s Parks Build Community project took place in Wellston, Missouri, a small town bordering St. Louis with a population slightly larger than 2,000 people.

Beginning on page 36, in her piece, “Trojan Park: Welcome to the Parks Build Community Family,” author Paula M. Jacoby-Garrett describes how NRPA partnered with Great Rivers Greenway to complete Trojan Park so that the children of Wellston could have a place to play and the community could have a central area for hosting community events. This $2 million park now provides much-needed recreation facilities to one of the poorest areas in Missouri.

The project, however, would not have been possible without the generosity and dedication of its donors. It’s because of these companies that NRPA can continue its work with the Parks Build Community initiative each year. This is just one of many ways NRPA is committed to enriching underserved communities. After all, it is our mission to make sure all children have access to parks and that they are able to grow and thrive in a safe and healthy environment.

The city of Pittsburgh knows all too well about the importance of health and spiritual wellness and how to appreciate cultural diversity. In his article, “Innovative Community Celebrations in an Urban Green Space” on page 32, author Scott Roller highlights Schenley Plaza in Pittsburgh as it celebrates its 10th anniversary. The plaza boasts 5 acres of intimate gardens, an expansive Emerald Lawn, a landmark tent and profit-sharing food vendors that feature local produce and international cuisine.

As you can see, this month’s issue of Parks & Recreation magazine is all about celebration — from culture and arts to community togetherness and new beginnings. And, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the good fortunes that have been afforded us this past year and to be open to the new possibilities of the coming year.

GINA MULLINS-COHEN Vice President of Marketing, Communications and Publishing Editorial Director 8

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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 Samantha Bartram sbartram@nrpa.org MANAGING 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 Mike Abbaté Keith Anderson Gerald Brown Ernest Burkeen Gwendolyn Chambers Brendan Daley Anthony-Paul Diaz Ryan Eaker Mariela Fernandez Robert García Kathleen Gibi Paul Gilbert Greg Harrison Tim Herd Mareya Ibrahim Edward Krafcik Todd Lehman Sam Mendelsohn Maria Nardi Lisa Paradis Gil Peñalosa Dr. Kevin Riley Matthew Rudnick Paula Sliefert Anne-Marie Spencer Stephen Springs Randy Wiger

Letters We hope the articles you read in Parks & Recreation are thought-provoking and engaging, and we want to hear your opinions on what you read in these pages. Through social media posts, website comments, emails to staff or posts on NRPA Connect, let us know how the magazine’s articles apply to your job and your agency. To submit feedback for this section, email Executive Editor Samantha Bartram at sbartram@nrpa.org.

Comment from Chris Clough regarding Laurel P. Richmond’s October 2016 article, “Providing Equal Access to Aquatic Facility Locker Rooms for People Who Are Transgender,” (www.parksandrecreation.org/2016/October/ProvidingEqual-Access-to-Aquatic-Facility-LockerRooms-for-People-Who-Are-Transgender): This article is a good intro for facility managers considering the needs of transgender individuals. Use of aquatic facilities and gyms are often out of the question for transgender individuals because of fears of how they will address the locker room situation.

Little things, like having shower curtains, are huge. Another is to make sure your bathroom stalls have hooks.

This makes it easier for transgender individuals to change in the privacy of a stall. Gender-neutral bathrooms and changing facilities can be helpful, however, it’s important that patrons are educated on who can use them so that a transgender person doesn’t feel like they will be judged for going in there. Particularly if they don’t appear outwardly to be transitioning, which most do not. Additionally, consider using your website to detail the accommodations your facility has made. Transgender individuals will often gather as much information as possible about a facility beforehand in hopes of avoiding uncomfortable or embarrassing situations. As the article states, transgender individuals do not want excess attention called to them.

Making simple accommodations and

training staff to be compassionate and empathetic will go a long way to helping transgender individuals enjoy your excellent facilities.

The following comments are in reference to Samantha Bartram’s October 2016 article, “Restorative Healing at Youth Visions Reflection Park,” (www.parksandrecreation.org/2016/October/Restorative-Healing-at-Youth-Visions-Reflection-Park): I am so glad that we have this project and others that will hopefully grow from here to give our youth a place to put their creative energy while learning about social justice.

—Meighan Richardson This is such a beautiful project and such a wonderful way to connect the community to youth and their feelings and hopes for change.

— Sarah Bryan Comment from Char Day regarding Justin Hurdle’s October 2016 article, “Smoke-Free Parks: Why Park and Recreation Departments Should Lead the Effort,” (www.parksandrecreation.org/2016/October/Smoke-Free-Parks-Why-Park-and-Recreation-Departments-Should-Lead-theEffort): Great article about supporting smokefree parks and trails. My lungs and asthma thank you so much.

The following comments are in reference to Peter Harnik and Alexandra Hiple’s September 2016 article, “If It Doesn’t Have a Bench, Is It Still a Park?,” (www.parksandrecreation.org/2016/September/If-ItDoesn-t-Have-a-Bench-Is-It-Still-a-Park): This is a wonderful article about the myriad ways that benches make parks more inviting for a broad swath of the people living in the community. One more use is as yoga and exercise “equipment.” I’ve been utilizing benches for outdoor exercise classes since 2002. All ages participate and seniors and people who are just starting out love how safe and easy this approach to exercise can be.

—Nancy Bruning Wildlife habitat is what makes an area a park. With no living things, you have something like a quarry. Have you ever visited one? Did you have fun? A park should have one bench, for those who need to sit, but that is probably enough. It’s healthier to keep moving. I hike in a park that has two benches. One of them is rarely used.

We are operating on an obsolete model for parks. People think it’s a place to have fun, where they don’t have to lift a finger to take care of it. That isn’t working! Trash and invasive exotic species are taking over our parks.

Parks are never adequately funded.

They need volunteers. Better yet, we should all be volunteers.

— Mike Vandeman

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Research NRPA Research Year in Review

By Kevin Roth, Ph.D.

D

most comprehensive resource of data and insights for park and recreation agencies in the United States, featuring 21 figures that highlight critical park and recreation metrics • Interactive charts featuring detailed crosstabs of the data for every table and chart presented in the NRPA Field Report • Custom Agency Performance Reports, which allow you to create a custom report of park and recreation metrics based on agency characteristics of your choosing, including agency size and budget, jurisdiction population and geography. Agencies with up-todate data in the system have access to a dashboard, allowing direct comparisons of their own performance with those of their peers.

With all of these changes, we felt it was time for a new name for these resources, one that better reflected what they are. So, PROAGIS is now NRPA Park Metrics (www.NRPA.org/metrics). If you haven’t already, check out the many data resources now available to you. If you’re a first-time user, enter your agency’s 2016 data so you can take full advantage of everything that NRPA Park Metrics has to offer.

served by your agency’s facilities. Your agency gains a greater understanding of the residents served by a park, aquatic center, recreation center or any other amenity, with a particular focus on their habits and interests.

Demographics and Forecasts: Learn about the size of the market, age trends, race and ethnicity, income, exercise habits, recreation spending and social media usage of the population served by your facility.

Map: See the size of the area served (or that could be served) by your facility, based on a driving or walking time that you set (e.g., 10-minute walk time or 5-, 10-, 15- or 30-minute drive time).

During the past year, the NRPA Research team has produced hundreds of NRPA Facility Market Reports (FMR) for agencies large and small. Some agencies have requested dozens of FMRs for every recreation center that they manage.

NRPA Premier Member agencies get a set allotment of FMRs as part of their membership package. And, if you need extra reports or if you are not currently with a Premier Agency, you can receive FMRs for a nominal charge.

We now are testing a new NRPA Facility Market Report that’s focused on health and wellness, specifically on exercise and recreation habits, doctor visits, usage of prescription drugs and dietary habits.

Request one today.

NRPA Facility Market Reports Ever wonder who lives near your park and recreation facilities? We introduced NRPA Facility Market Reports (www.

NRPA.org/FMR) to help answer this question. These brief reports present key data and insights about the market

Americans’ Broad-Based Support for Local Recreation and Park Services In a follow-up to a 1992 NRPA/Penn State University (PSU) study, NRPA Research engaged a group of PSU researchers to learn more about how the general public views their local parks.

ecember is a time to reflect on the past year. For NRPA Research, 2016 has been a big year featuring new reports and resources. In turn, park and recreation professionals like you have participated in NRPA Research surveys at levels not seen in the history of our organization.

During the past year, we have focused our research work on two goals: • To collect and share data that helps park and recreation agencies make optimal decisions on operations, programming and spending • To collect and share data that helps park and recreation professionals make the case for greater (and more stable) funding With that in mind, we not only publish easy-to-read reports, we take the research findings to the next level with color infographics highlighting the study’s key findings and interactive tools that provide you with data customized to your agency.

Let us take one last look at the resources and tools released by NRPA Research in 2016: Goodbye PRORAGIS, Hello NRPA Park Metrics At the beginning of this year, we rolled out a streamlined Agency Performance Survey instrument that supports PRORAGIS, NRPA’s agency performance benchmarking tool. The questionnaire now features 30 questions, with slightly more than 100 data points, that typically take less than half an hour to complete.

Even better, it takes agencies that previously completed the Agency Performance Survey less than 10 minutes to enter their 2016 data.

But, the real changes have come in how park and recreation professionals can interact with the data. These resources include: • The annual NRPA Field Report, the 12 Parks & Recreation

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What did we learn? Americans cherish their local public park and recreation services, seeing them as valuable features of their communities, towns and cities. In fact, Americans almost unanimously agree that their communities benefit from their local public parks, even if they themselves are not regular park users. This passion for local public parks has gone unabated during the past 25 years even as our nation and the ways we interact and entertain each other have dramatically evolved.

Read the full report and dig deeper into the data with a series of interactive tools at www.NRPA.org/americanssupport-parks.

Americans’ Engagement with Parks Survey NRPA Research launched a new annual study that probes Americans’ usage of parks, the key reasons that drive their use and the greatest challenges preventing greater usage. Each year, the survey will explore the importance of public parks in Americans’ lives, including how parks compare to other services and offerings of local governments.

This inaugural survey released this fall (www.NRPA.org/engagement) found: • Americans on average visit their local park and recreation facilities approximately 29 times a year, with 3 in 5 saying their most recent visit was within the past month.

• Nine in 10 Americans agree that parks and recreation services are important amenities delivered by their local government, comparable to public safety, school and transportation.

• Seven in 10 Americans say they are more likely to vote for local politicians who make park and recreation funding a priority.

• Three-quarters of Americans support increased local government spending for park and recreation agencies, with solid support for an almost 30 percent increase in funding for local park and recreation agencies.

NRPA Park Pulse Polls The two preceding studies find broad support for park and recreation agencies. NRPA Research now has a resource that gives NRPA and member agencies reasons to tout their benefits throughout the year. NRPA Park Pulse (www.NRPA.org/Park-Pulse) is a monthly single-question poll on issues related to parks and recreation.

Some topics are serious — such as, the impact Zika had on people’s plans to enjoy the outdoors last summer or banning the use of tobacco products at public parks. Other topics celebrate what agencies offer to their communities, including favorite outdoor activities or whether watching the Olympics motivates people to become more physically active.

2016 has been a rewarding year in developing new resources and reintroducing previously offered research tools to park and recreation professionals. In the coming year, we look forward to broadening the reach of NRPA Research to give you the resources you need to better serve the public and tell the park and recreation story. Help us succeed by sharing your feedback. Whether it’s to share your thoughts on a previous report or to make a suggestion on future research topics, we are looking forward to hearing from you.

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

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Research

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 take a closer look at attitudes surrounding the importance of healthy food and drink options being included in vending machines and offered at concession stands in public spaces.

Americans Want Healthier Food and Drink Options A Park Pulse poll conducted by the National Recreation and Park Association asked 1,017 Americans ages 18+ how important it is to them that vending machines and concession stands in public spaces include healthy food and drink options.

NRPA encourages public venues (e.g., public parks and recreation centers) to add healthy food and drink options at vending machines and concession stands.

Based upon a survey conducted for the National Recreation and Park Association by Wakefield Research among 1,017 nationally representative Americans, ages 18+, between June 16th and June 23rd, 2016, using an email invitation and an online survey. Quotas have been set to ensure reliable and accurate representation of the U.S. adult population ages 18+. Results of any sample are subject to sampling variation. The magnitude of the variation is measurable and is affected by the number of interviews and the level of the percentages expressing the results. For the interviews conducted in this particular study, the chances are 95 in 100 that a survey result does not vary, plus or minus, by more than 3.1 percentage points from the result that would be obtained if interviews had been conducted with all persons in the universe represented by the sample. All decimals are rounded to the nearest percentage point. This may result in certain numerical totals adding up to slightly more or less than 100%.

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People for Parks The Health Benefits of a Bicycle-Pedestrian Trail

By Lisa L. Gezon, Emily McKendry-Smith and Anne Kristen Hunter

T

he connection between physical activity and health is well-established. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), studies show that physical activity reduces the risk of major health concerns, including strokes, type 2 diabetes and some forms of cancer. The closeness of our ties to our neighbors, the strength of our personal relationships and the resources present in our communities are also all related to health. Recent studies in neuroscience suggest that the presence of social support can even protect against the detrimental effects of chronic stress by promoting healthy brain development and strengthening the immune system.

Parks, because of their ability to foster physical activity and positive connections between people are critical to public health.

Carrollton, Georgia, GreenBelt The social aspect of good health was brought into focus through research on the GreenBelt, a 16-mile bicycle-pedestrian trail that loops around the city of Carrollton, Georgia. The Friends of Carrollton Green-

Belt, LLC, broke ground for the trail in 2011, and it is scheduled for completion at the end of 2016. The goal of the GreenBelt is to provide opportunities for recreation, transportation and increased health outcomes along a conduit that connects parks, businesses and schools.

In fall 2015, a team of researchers from the University of West Georgia began a research project to explore the relation-

Trail experiences, whether on foot or bike, play a role in combating stress and building strong community relationships, both critical elements in our nation’s public health.

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ship between physical activity, perceptions of health and use of the GreenBelt.

In a mixed-method approach, researchers asked whether and how the presence of the trail changed users’ participation in and attitudes toward physical activity. A team of four students handed out surveys at four separate, high-traffic locations on the GreenBelt and received 269 completed surveys. After a preliminary analysis of that data, 14 individuals were interviewed using a targeted set of questions.

Socializing and Exercising Analysis of the survey data confirmed that the majority of people reported that the GreenBelt makes it easier for them to find time to exercise, allows them to get more exercise than before it was available, increases their enjoyment of doing moderate or vigorous physical activity and leaves them feeling like they are in a better state of health and/or physical ability than they were before they started using the trail. Breaking down the results by gender revealed that women reported those outcomes more frequently than men.

Unexpectedly, researchers also discovered the importance, particularly for women, of the GreenBelt as a place to socialize and be with others. “Socializing with friends” was the second-most important reason cited for going on the GreenBelt; “getting exercise” was the first. Women reported using the trail to socialize with friends significantly more often than men (about 30 percent of women reported this compared to 13 percent of men).

People who visit the GreenBelt with others were significantly more likely to report

that it made exercising easier and more enjoyable, allowed them to get more exercise and made them feel healthier than before they started using the trail. Additional interviews further explored the connection between socializing on the trail and attitudes toward health, intentionally focusing on women. Fourteen people, including three men, were interviewed about their health and whether it had changed since they started using the trail, as well as about how and why they use the trail with others.

The interviews confirmed that for these men and women, there is a connection between physical activity, socializing on the trail and better health. Eight (all women) out of the 14 reported being in better health than they were two years prior, and all of them credited the GreenBelt as aiding in that transition. All of the interviewees, whatever their report about their health, said that socializing was an important part of their GreenBelt experience.

These conversations indicate that the GreenBelt supports social relationships in a variety of ways, ranging from sustaining already existing relationships to fostering new connections and a sense of community among fellow trail users.

Access and Safety The connection between physical activity, human relationships and health, in this case, requires an explicit acknowledgement of the GreenBelt’s role. The trail facilitates walking with friends, especially in a city where the lack of sidewalks can make it a challenge to walk anywhere at all and even harder to walk side-by-side with other people. The GreenBelt is so inviting that a number of walking groups have formed to take advantage of it, including several churchbased groups that have developed ministries around gathering as a religious community while walking or bicycling on the trail.

A couple caveats are worth noting: Some people want to walk with partners not only to socialize, but also to stay safe.

Older people and women of all ages view a buddy as protection from assault, as well as a lifesaver in case of an emergency health event. Out of the 14 people interviewed, five stated that safety is an important motivation in exercising with others on the trail. One stated that because of her concern for her safety, she would be unlikely to exercise if she was by herself. Survey results showed 21 percent of women considered the lack of a walking partner as prohibitive of them using the trail (compared to only 4 percent of men).

Also, the benefits of the trail may not be equally shared by all demographics. Researchers found that the majority of GreenBelt users are white (86 percent), female (54 percent) and have an average household income of between $50,000 and $75,000.

These numbers diverge from the population of the county (which, according to the 2015 census, is about 72 percent white, 51 percent female and has a median household income of $45,000). This suggests that some community members are having a harder time accessing the health benefits of the GreenBelt. Targeted interviews with both users and nonusers suggested that time constraints, safe access to the trail and exercise preferences influenced the lower numbers of lower-income and minority trail users.

However, at the time of the survey, the trail had not been completed through the lowest-income or more ethnically diverse areas, so these numbers may change over time.

Conclusion and Recommendations A common perception is that socializing, while valuable for many reasons, is incidental to the health benefits of a park. This study suggests, rather, that the opportunity to be with other people on the trail actually contributes to better self-reported health outcomes. Women reported a higher tendency to socialize on the trail and were also more likely to report that they were in a better state of health than before they began using it. Qualitative interviews con-

firmed that men and women alike value their time with other people on the trail and give credit to the trail for helping them on their journey to health.

This finding supports research in the social sciences, which proposes that strong relationships with other people contribute to positive health outcomes.

This relationship can be playfully presented in the following way: Common perception: Trails = (physical activity = health) + socializing Findings: Trails = (physical activity + socializing) = health The study’s findings suggest that facilities designed to promote socializing along trails (such as pocket parks, playgrounds and basketball courts) encourage community building, with benefits not only for health, but also for civic engagement. They also suggest that the issue of safety is a concern to be continuously revisited — implementing best practices in safe-space design and monitoring is critical — and that encouraging trail use across lines of income and ethnicity through targeted public education and appropriate trail amenities will increase a trail’s health benefits.

The take-home message is that trails, and parks in general, contribute to health in multiple ways. Trail experiences play a role in combating stress and building strong community relationships, both critical elements in our nation’s public health.

Detailed references for this article are available at www.parksandrecreation.org/2016/ December/The-Health-Benefits-of-a-Bicycle-Pedestrian-Trail.

Lisa L. Gezon is a Professor of Anthropology and Chair, Department of Anthropology at the University of West Georgia (lgezon@westga.edu).

Emily McKendry-Smith is an Assistant Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology at the University of West Georgia, (mckendr@westga. edu). Anne Kristen Hunter is an Instructor, Department of Sociology at the University of West Georgia (ahunter@westga.edu).

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ADVOCACY

Advocacy Through Storytelling Park Champions are making a difference, one event at a time

By Jayni Rasmussen

C

hildren from all corners of the world traveled to Bangor, Maine, this summer, united in their hopes of claiming a Senior Little League World Series title at the Shawn T. Mansfield Stadium. Many players and their families may not have known the story behind the namesake of the stadium, Shawn T. Mansfield. He was a Bangor child who loved baseball but, sadly, lost his battle with cerebral palsy and inspired Bangor resident and author Stephen King to donate the funds to build the stadium. It’s likely that even fewer people know that Hayford Park, where Shawn T. Mansfield is located, was made possible by the Land and Water Conservation Fund’s (LWCF) State Assistance program. Investments in Bangor’s local park and recreation, both by members of the community and by our national community through forward-thinking conservation efforts like the LWCF, made it possible to bring the Senior Little League World Series to Bangor.

These stories were brought to light this summer by two dedicated NRPA Park Champions: Bangor Parks and Recreation Director Tracy Willette and Maine Recreation and Park Association Executive Director Deb Smith. They teamed up to bring U.S. Senator Susan Collins, U.S. Congress-

18 Parks & Recreation

man Bruce Poliquin, and staff from U.S. Senator Angus King’s office to speak during the opening ceremonies of the series. By inviting their members of Congress to participate in this event, Willette and Smith were able to share the stadium’s history and its importance to the Bangor community

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and to demonstrate the importance of investing in local parks and recreation through federal legislation like LWCF. In this tough political climate on Capitol Hill, it’s critical that we get creative to ensure the future of parks and recreation.

Fortunately, as park and recreation professionals and advocates, you are uniquely positioned to take an innovative approach to advocacy. Instead of relying on standard advocacy techniques, you have resources to draw on, such as beautiful parks, quality programming and a deep connection with your community. Sure, anyone can interact with their congressional offices with the occasional email.

But, by inviting your members of Congress or their staff to see, first-hand, the essential services you provide, you can leave a lasting impression that will allow you to build a strong relationship with

your federal elected officials and their staff year-round.

This powerful storytelling, showand-tell method is exactly what’s behind the Park Champion campaign, NRPA’s signature grassroots advocacy initiative. It engages park and recreation professionals, park advocates and decisionmakers across the nation in park and recreation advocacy.

Through webinars with expert guest speakers, comprehensive toolkits and staff on-hand, the Park Champion initiative is making it easy to bring Capitol Hill to a park near you.

Instead of relying on standard advocacy techniques, you have resources to draw on, such as beautiful parks...and a deep connection with your community.

In the second year of the initiative, Park Champions from across the county invited their members of Congress to exciting events they had already scheduled. Members of Congress and their staff, eager to get out of their offices and into the community to interact with constituents, jumped at the opportunity to attend events, ranging from park dedications to summer meal programs, in parks and community centers in their districts. Through these impactful interactions, Park Champions are making a big difference, one event at a time.

As we look forward to 2017, we’re excited to see even more NRPA members step up as Park Champions. With

the resources NRPA provides, it’s easier than ever to become part of the parks and rec advocacy movement.

Our staff is on hand to help you plan your event and assist in coordinating with your volunteer and friends networks to plan your Park Champion event. To get started, visit the Park Champion website (www.nrpa.org/ park-champions) and sign up to re-

ceive monthly updates and access to key advocacy resources and toolkits.

If you have questions or simply want to talk about how the Park Champion initiative can work for you, reach out to Jayni Rasmussen at jrasmussen@ nrpa.org or 440.522.9162.

Jayni Rasmussen is NRPA’s Advocacy and Outreach Specialist (jrasmussen@nrpa.org).

2016 Park Champions of the Year: With so many incredible Park Champion events this year, it was quite a challenge to choose the recipient of the 2016 Park Champion of the Year Award. This annual award is given to the Park Champion who hosts a creative event that best showcases their park and recreation agency to a member of Congress or the congressional member’s staff. The recipient of the 2016 Park Champion of the Year Award will receive a plaque and roundtrip flight and lodging to travel to Washington, D.C., in spring 2017 to advocate for parks and recreation on Capitol Hill. After much deliberation, the NRPA Public Policy Committee selected the following winner and finalists:

Winner, 2016 Park Champions of the Year Tracy Willette, Director, Bangor Parks and Recreation, and Deb Smith, Executive Director, Maine Recreation and Park Association Event: Senior Little League World Series – Bangor, Maine Guests: Senator Susan Collins, Congressman Bruce Poliquin, staff from the office of Senator Angus King

Finalists: • Som Subedi, Coordinator | Parks for New Portlanders Event: Portland World Cup Guest: Senator Ron Wyden • Michele Potter, Director | Gaithersburg Parks and Recreation Event: Celebrate Gaithersburg Days and Naturalization Ceremony Guests: Senator Ben Cardin, Congressman Chris Van Hollen, Congressman John Delaney • Azade Perin-Monterroso, Program Manager - Healthy Communities Office | City of Providence Event: USDA Summer Meal Program Visit and Speech Guest: Senator Jack Reed • Tony Collins, Director, and Brandi Braun, Chief Communications and Development Officer | Columbus Department of Parks and Recreation Event: USDA Summer Meal Program Visit and Speech Guest: Senator Sherrod Brown Do you want to be the next Park Champion of the Year? Host your members of Congress or their staff at an event highlighting your parks and programs by the end of August 2017 to be eligible for next year’s award. It’s easy to plan a Park Champion event with the Park Champion Advocacy Toolkit, so get started planning yours today!

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L AW R E V I E W

Fateful Dive into ‘Closed’ Park Pond

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

T

here is generally no negligence liability for injuries resulting from conditions that should have been obvious to the recreational user. Further, the duty of a landowner is to warn of unreasonably dangerous conditions. Within this context, unreasonably dangerous conditions are those that are known to the landowner, but not obvious or discoverable by the recreational user through the reasonable use of his or her senses. If obvious or discoverable, the recreational users looking out reasonably for their own safety should be able to appreciate and avoid such hazardous conditions on the premises.

In determining landowner liability for injuries in a natural or man-made body of water, the applicable legal standard of care will generally depend on whether or not the area was designated for swimming. Mere public use of a natural or man-made body of water for swimming does not generally, in and of itself, create a designated swimming area requiring lifeguard supervision.

On the contrary, the landowner must take some steps that constitute an expressed or implied invitation that swimming is authorized and encouraged, not merely tolerated, in a body of water. Further, for the

20 Parks & Recreation

most part, governmental entities have immunity from negligence liability for failing to designate an area for swimming in light of such tolerated public use.

As illustrated by the case described herein, there is generally no legal duty to warn of the obvious danger of diving into waters of unknown depth. On the contrary, the primary duty of care in ascertaining whether it is safe to dive is on the diver. Moreover, under an applicable state recreational use statute, there is no duty to guard, warn or make the premises reasonably safe for recreational purposes.

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Pond Closed to Swimming?

In the case of Roy v. State, 2016 R.I. LEXIS 88 (R.I. 06/23/2016), plaintiff Brett A. Roy brought negligence and premises liability claims against the state of Rhode Island as well as the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (collectively DEM) and two individuals in their official capacities as DEM employees. On July 10, 2008, Roy, a 29-year-old father of three, broke his neck and was left paralyzed from the neck down after diving into a state park pond. In July 2008, the pond at World War II Veterans Memorial Park in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, was one of several bodies of water operated by the state DEM as a recreational facility.

While his appeal was pending before the Rhode Island state Supreme Court, Roy passed away in March 2016. The state Supreme Court then ordered the executor of Roy’s estate, his wife Dawn, be

substituted as the party in interest to pursue his negligence and premises liability claims and appeal against DEM. The director of DEM at the time of the incident, W. Michael Sullivan, testified that the man-made pond was “filled mechanically” and “treated much like a swimming pool.” Sullivan testified that, in June 2008, he made the decision to fill the pond. Sullivan had explained that, in February 2008, World War II Veterans Memorial Park had been “slated for closure” in the budget presented to the legislature that year. However, at the end of June, after local officials expressed concern, he made the decision as the director of DEM to fill the pond.

Sullivan testified, in July 2008, there were “no swimming” signs posted, but DEM “expected that there would be people using the park.” Sullivan explained that facilities such as the bathhouses were open, but he stated that he “did not ever consider the beach to be open.”

Sullivan agreed that it was prohibited under DEM rules to operate the pond on a “swim-at-your-own-risk” basis.

Moreover, Sullivan explained that, “If there were not lifeguards present at a swimming facility, that the swimming facility was closed.” Further, Sullivan explained that, in July 2008, staff on-site at the park had been directed “to tell people that the beach — that the water was closed to swimming, to point to signage and refer them to that, but it was not expected that they would stand there and order people out of the water.”

Too Shallow for Diving The Associate Director of Natural Resources for DEM, Larry Mouradjian, also testified at trial. He described the pond, explaining that there was a designated lap pool, a swim area and a diving platform. He testified that he had seen the pond with and without water, and, based on his opinion, diving near the wall into the lap pool would be dangerous because it was too shallow. Mourad

jian testified that the pond was typically not filled “until such time as we were able to fully staff the swim area and invite the public to swim at the pond.”

Mouradjian stated that he thought the decision to fill the pond was untimely “because the things normally done to prepare the pond to be open to the public had not been done.” He testified that he had spoken to Sullivan and recommended that the pond be drained or left empty until DEM “began to acquire the resources necessary.”

manager for DEM in 2008, testified that there was no “system that was in place to warn people of the depth of the water.”

However, he stated that “if a patron asked an employee, they would advise them as to the depth of the water, and if they asked about diving, they would tell them the rules and regulations.” Mitchell agreed that Roy’s injury was “generally” the type of thing that he could foresee and he was concerned that it was the kind of injury that would happen when he was told to fill

In determining landowner liability for injuries in a natural or man-made body of water, the applicable legal standard of care will generally depend on whether or not the area was designated for swimming.

Shallow Water Risk The DEM Chief of the Rhode Island Division of Parks and Recreation, Robert Paquette, and the Deputy Chief, John Faltus, also testified at trial. Paquette confirmed that Mouradjian was hesitant to open the pond and that Mouradjian told him, “We should really look into this.” However, Paquette testified that Sullivan was ordering him to open up the facility. Paquette also testified that he had never been told that “there was ever a problem with shallow water” along the wall of the pond.

Faltus testified that he was never “officially informed” that people were diving at the pond, but he had “heard hearsay that there’s possible diving activity after hours.” Faltus stated that generally they did not allow diving at any state swimming area. However, he also admitted that people were “allowed to possibly do some shallow-entry dives,” explaining that whether diving was allowed “depends on how you define ‘dive.’”

William Mitchell Jr., the regional park

the pond before lifeguards had been hired.

Peter Lambert, a DEM caretaker supervisor who was employed at the World War II Veterans Memorial Park from 1990 to 2008, testified about the diving policies at the pond. He stated that diving had never been allowed. However, he admitted to seeing people periodically dive off of the wall on the pool area, but not during hours that the pond was in operation.

No Swimming/Diving Ignored Kenneth Henderson, a seasonal laborer for DEM who worked as a groundskeeper at the park in 2008, testified at trial that he was working on July 10, 2008.

Henderson stated that he saw “about half a dozen” people swimming in the pond that day but did not tell them that swimming was prohibited because, in his words, he had “no authority.”

Laura Oliver and Carol Gear had also been at the park on July 10, 2008, and testified at trial. Oliver testified that on July 10 there were no lifeguards, lifeguard chairs or buoy lines in the pond and the foun-

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tain was off. Oliver said that she allowed her children to go swimming despite the “no swimming” signs because there had been a write-up in the paper and nobody told them differently. She added that there were often “no swimming” signs in place, even when lifeguards were present and watching the swimmers. However, Oliver testified that a DEM employee, who she later learned was a groundskeeper, had told her children not to jump in the water. Oliver explained that she saw people jumping and doing “all kinds of stuff ” off the diving platform on July 10.

Oliver further testified she knew from experience that diving was not allowed in the pond because in previous years, “if someone dove into the water, then lifeguards would be on top of it. If they kept doing it, the lifeguards would tell them they had to leave.” Oliver added that she never saw anyone get hurt while diving prior to July 10. Oliver described Roy’s dive as “a belly flop kind of dive; not a complete dive.”

Gear testified that she had been to the pond to swim three times before July 10, 2008, and had seen people dive, but had never seen anyone injured from diving before Roy suffered his injury. Gear described Roy’s actions that she witnessed on July 10, stating: “He threw something on the ground and ran, like you run when you bowl, and then he just dove in.” She labeled Roy’s dive as a “regular kind of dive.” She clarified that she would call it “a shallow dive.” She explained “it was more like he just put his head down and kind of went in. It wasn’t like a real dive like on a diving board.”

Hope Braybon, who accompanied Roy to the pond on July 10, also testified to the events of the day. Braybon stated that she watched Roy “jog” from the car in the parking lot and “dive in.” She testified that, as Roy was diving, she “was telling him not to dive over there because it was shallow water.”

22 Parks & Recreation

Murky Water Looked Deep Roy was unable to testify at trial, but his deposition was read into the record. Roy was 6 feet tall and 29 years old at the time of the incident. Roy testified that on July 10 he had dropped Braybon, her daughter and his children at the park and “they walked towards the beach.” He recalled seeing “20 to 30 people, small children, adults, adolescent children in the middle of the pond” swimming, which indicated to him that the park was open. He testified that he “never saw a sign that said ‘no swimming.’”

Roy further testified that, when he arrived at the park, he walked over toward the corner of the pond and wasn’t going to jump in, but, he described the day as “hot, very hot.” So, he figured he would “jump in.” He stated that he looked at the water and it “looked deep enough.” He described the water as “murky” and said that he “definitely couldn’t see the bottom.” He explained that “if the water was too shallow,” he would be able to see it.

Before jumping in, Roy returned to his car to put his things away and then he “walked down to the end, dove in the water,” and he broke his neck. Roy described his dive as a “shallow dive, just like a normal, flat dive,” meaning “the only parts that he would want to hit the water would be the tops of his hand and his belly.”

Roy testified that around July 2007 he dove in the same spot, and “nothing was ever said” to him. Roy admitted that he knew there was soil erosion in the pond, and, consequently, that soil had been added to the pond in the past. Roy stated that “the way that he checked the depth of the water” was “probably irresponsible.”

Contradictory Jury Verdict The jury reached a unanimous verdict and found that the state had not “willfully or maliciously failed to guard or warn against a dangerous condition, use, structure or activity at the pond,” and, therefore, was not liable. However, the

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jury found that the state was liable for “willfully or maliciously failing to guard against a non-obvious, latent dangerous condition, knowing that there existed a strong likelihood that a user of the swimming pond would suffer serious injury or death.” Moreover, the jury rejected the assumption-of-the-risk defense and found that both parties were negligent and assigned a 50/50 split with “zero” damages.

Following the jury verdict, both parties made renewed motions for judgment as a matter of law. In support of its motion, the state argued the plaintiffs failed to establish the state’s liability under the Recreational Use Statute and that, as a matter of law, Roy’s conduct was so “highly dangerous” that “no duty was owed to him.” In response, Roy argued “the state’s witnesses admitted sufficient facts at trial to establish the state’s liability as a matter of law under the Recreational Use Statute.”

In addition, in the alternative, Roy filed a motion for a new trial. The trial judge granted Roy’s motion for a new trial.

When a jury verdict is against the weight of the evidence, a trial court may grant a motion for a new trial. In this particular case, the trial judge apparently found the jury verdicts to be inconsistent, if not contradictory, based on the evidence and applicable law considered by the jury.

The state appealed to the state Supreme Court, claiming the trial judge had erred in not granting judgment to the state based on the state Recreational Use Statute.

Recreational Use Statute As cited by the state Supreme Court, the Rhode Island Recreational Use Statute, G.L. 1956 chapter 6 of title 32, limiting the liability of landowners, provided as follows: One who either directly or indirectly invites or permits without charge any person to use that property for recreational purposes does not thereby: (1) Extend any assurance that the

premises are safe for any purpose; (2) Confer upon that person the legal status of an invitee or licensee to whom a duty of care is owed; nor (3) Assume responsibility for or incur liability for any injury to any person or property caused by an act of omission of that person.” Section 32-6-3.

While “the Recreational Use Statute limits liability,” the state Supreme Court noted “this limitation is not absolute.” On the contrary, the state Supreme Court cited “willful or malicious” conduct as an exception to statutory immunity: Section 32-6-5 provides, in relevant part: (a) Nothing in this chapter limits in any way any liability which, but for this chapter, otherwise exists: (1) for the willful or malicious failure to guard or warn against a dangerous condition, use, structure or activity after discovering the user’s peril.

As described by the state Supreme Court, the expressed legislative intent of the state Recreational Use Statute “is to encourage owners of land to make land and water areas available to the public for recreational purposes by limiting their liability to persons entering thereon for those purposes.” In order to achieve this legislative objective, the state Supreme Court noted the Recreational Use Statute “modifies the common law by treating users of public and private recreational properties as trespassers, thus greatly reducing the duty of care that owners owe to recreational users.”

At common law, landowners are liable for ordinary negligence that causes injury to invitees on the premises. Landowner liability for trespassers, however, is very limited to much more outrageous willful/ wanton or malicious misconduct. The statutory status of a recreational user under an applicable state Recreational Use Statute is the same as a trespasser at common law. Specifically, landowner liability in both instances would require proof of

willful/wanton malicious misconduct, not mere negligence.

Further, the state Supreme Court noted, “the unambiguous language of the 1996 amendment to the Recreational Use

Statute” made it clear that “the legislature intended to include the state and municipalities among owners entitled to immunity under the statute.” Specifically, in 1996, the general assembly had amended

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the definition of “owner” in G.L. 1956 § 32-6-2(3) to include the state and municipalities. Accordingly, as characterized by the state Supreme Court, “the legislature declared that all people who use this state’s public recreational resources are classified as trespassers to whom no duty of care is owed, save to refrain from willful or malicious conduct as defined in the Recreational Use Statute.”

Willful or Malicious Failure?

On appeal, the state argued the evidence presented at trial in this case had failed to “establish that the state willfully and/or maliciously failed to warn against a dangerous condition” within the context of the state Recreational Use Statute. Specifically, the state argued that “there was no evidence of a substantial number of injuries flowing from a known dangerous condition,” that “the state did not fail to guard or warn against a dangerous condition, use, structure or activity,” and “no witness made testimonial admissions sufficient to extinguish protection under the Recreational Use Statute.”

In response, Roy argued liability under the Recreational Use Statute had been established because the evidence supported a finding that the state “breached the duty to refrain from willful and malicious failures to guard and warn against known latent conditions.” Specifically, Roy claimed the “record is replete with evidence of DEM’s admitted knowledge of numerous unique dangerous conditions, including shallow water in areas where users had been known to dive from the park’s structures, and the historic presence of the sandbar in the same (normally deeper) area.” As characterized by Roy, the “shallow water and dangers of diving at this particular facility were not obvious to users, yet were in fact known to DEM.” The state Supreme Court found the state had indeed “admitted knowledge of the 24 Parks & Recreation

unique features of the pond.” On the other hand, the court found Roy had also “admitted that he was aware of the danger of making a dive into shallow water.” Moreover, the court noted Roy’s admission that “the way that he checked the depth of the water was probably irresponsible.”

At common law, landowners are liable for ordinary negligence that causes injury to invitees on the premises.

Since there was “only one indication in the record of a relatively minor injury reported several days before Roy’s catastrophic injuries,” the state Supreme Court found DEM had no specific knowledge of any peril confronting Roy. As a result, the state Supreme Court found no evidence of multiple incidents grievous injury that would be indicative of a “willful or malicious failure to guard or warn against a dangerous condition” within the context of the state Recreational Use Statute.

The state Supreme Court, therefore, concluded the trial court had erred in not granting the state’s motion for judgment based on applicable landowner immunity under the state recreational use statute.

Open and Obvious Danger Alternatively, even if the Recreational Use Statute did not apply, the state Supreme Court held the danger of diving in and of itself is an “open and obvious” danger, one of “common knowledge,” such that a landowner does not owe a duty of care to warn individuals who enter the premises: As a practical matter, the danger of diving into shallow water is one of common knowledge, and one the plaintiff admitted he was aware of...

It is only reasonable for a diver, who

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cannot ascertain the water’s depth by looking, to further inspect the area before diving into dark water. The danger of diving into shallow water was open and obvious [to a 29-year-old man], regardless of whether a sign was erected alerting him to the danger.

Similarly, under the circumstances of this case, the state Supreme Court found “as a matter of law, the plaintiff [Roy] must be held to have had knowledge and an appreciation of this risk because, ultimately, it was the plaintiff’s own behavior that caused his injuries.” The state Supreme Court, therefore, held that the state DEM did not owe Roy a duty of care, but, rather, that the plaintiff voluntarily exposed himself to the perils of an “open and obvious” danger.

Conclusion Accordingly, in the opinion of the state Supreme Court, “the state bore no liability for Roy’s injuries — either because diving is an open and obvious danger or because it was protected under the Recreational Use Statute.” As a result, the court concluded that the trial court had erroneously denied the state’s “motion for judgment as a matter of law.”

The state Supreme Court, therefore, vacated the judgment of the trial court and remanded (i.e., sent back) the case “with instructions to enter judgment in favor of the state.”

In reaching this decision, the state Supreme Court noted this was a “hard case... not in the sense that it is legally difficult or tough to crack, but in the sense that it requires us to deny relief to a plaintiff for whom we have considerable sympathy.”

That being said, the state Supreme Court acknowledged “the duty of all courts of justice” to “take care” that “hard cases do not make bad law.”

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.

The Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks Emergency Preparedness Section conducts shelter setup training.

Parks, Recreation and Resilience

By Roland Richardson and Jennifer Cox

E

very year, increasingly extreme weather events — hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes, floods — wreak havoc on homes, businesses, municipalities and the environment. From 1980 to 2015, the United States averaged slightly more than five weather events per year with damages exceeding $1 billion; in the past five years (2011-2015), the annual average has more than doubled to 10.8 events. The increased frequency of these events is taking a tremendous national toll — in 2015, losses attributed to natural disasters in the United States totaled more than $16 billion.

The period of time required for a community to recover from disaster varies — some rebuild in months, others take years. In some underserved communities, the job of rebuilding is never complete. Recovery depends on a community’s level of resilience.

Organizations like the United Nations and a growing number of local governments and community groups are promoting the concept of community resilience — defined as a community’s capacity to withstand and recover from significant disruptions of any kind by anticipating threats, limiting their effects and rapidly restoring functionality after a crisis — as the best approach to man-

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aging the risk of natural disasters.

Helping communities to build this capacity was the inspiration for creating the Alliance for National and Community Resilience (ANCR) (http://bit. ly/2eLZYvN). During the past year, the International Code Council (ICC) has coled the effort to create ANCR, a nonprofit alliance tasked with developing the tools, processes and metrics necessary for communities to increase their resilience. Resilient communities are not only prepared to help prevent or minimize losses and damage, but they also have the ability to quickly return citizens to work, reopen businesses

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and restore other essential services needed for a full and timely economic recovery.

ANCR recruited a variety of experts — emergency managers, planners and architects, and utility representatives — each focused on a unique component of community resilience. As a major first step, ANCR is creating a “Resilience Benchmark” that will identify and rate various community functions (or the services essential to the survival of a community), such as transportation, communications and business continuity.

Using the benchmark, communities will be able to: • Better understand what resilience means in their specific community • Determine their risk profile, which will consider and rate all of the potential risks the community faces • Assess where they stand on a scale of resilience • Access tools and resources to help their

community become more resilient In a time where a disaster can happen at any moment, it is important to have a plan in place for your family. In 2015, there were more than 1,500 earthquakes worldwide with about 140 of them recorded at a magnitude of 6.0 or higher. If your community is close to a major fault line, it is extremely important to identify safe places to go. The city of Portland, Oregon, is already thinking ahead by selecting 17 parks that will serve as gathering spots in case of an earthquake. Parks were chosen because of their location away from floodplains and major buildings, as well as their ability to accommodate large numbers of people. The parks are marked by signage, assuring residents that members of the community who have training will try to come to these areas to provide assistance. The Portland Bureau of Emergency Management has created Neighborhood Emergency Teams by training local residents to be able to assist first responders during a crisis.

It is important to think about how your city is vulnerable to certain types of disasters and where the safest gathering places would be, whether inside or outside. Many local recreation centers become supply hubs during natural disasters. For example, when a massive flooding of the Patapsco River occurred in July in the quaint town of Ellicott City, Maryland, community members sought refuge when their homes and businesses were destroyed. Immediately following the flood, the Roger Carter Community Center was closed for recreational use to provide shelter to people who needed a place to shower, charge devices and use bathrooms. Local park and recreation centers are convenient and safe places where the community can feel a little bit of relief during a tragedy.

While there are a number of similar initiatives, ANCR differs by placing a heavy emphasis on the “stickiness” of communities,

that is, the elements of those places that create thriving and cohesive communities that are desirable to live in.

Parks and recreation each play a huge part in making a community desirable and comfortable to residents. Parks, from their earliest roots, help bring people together across social, economic and racial divides.

They support economic development, provide safety and security, promote health and wellness, foster human development, increase cultural unity and protect environmental resources. As a leading provider of out-of-school time programming for youth, and development programs for adults and senior citizens, park and recreation centers have extensive experience in engaging community residents.

Parks also provide an ideal venue for reaching large numbers of people in order to

distribute information about the benefits of community-wide resilience and to provide training for people who want to help during a disaster. In 2015, the top 26 most-visited city parks, as cited by the Trust for Public Land (only a fraction of the total number of parks throughout the country), reported a combined total of more than 230 million visitors. These facilities have a chance to shape how people think about safety and community resilience as a whole.

For many, love of local parks and recreation may help provide additional motivation to rebuild after a catastrophe, emerging stronger and more economically viable than before.

Roland Richardson is NRPA’s Development Officer, Conservation (rrichardson@nrpa.org).

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

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HEALTH AND WELLNESS

Setting the Table for a Successful Summer at South Burlington Recreation and Parks

By Holly Baker and Brett Leonard

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his past spring, the South Burlington, Vermont, Recreation and Parks Department was awarded a $33,000 NRPA Commit to Health grant. The newly acquired funds help infuse our Junior REC Camp, an eight-week summer day camp for youth who have completed K-6th grade, with daily wholesome, local, organic nutritious lunches and snacks provided by the dedicated staff at South Burlington Schools Nutritional Services. The funds didn’t cover the cost of meals, but they did support nutrition and physical activity.

To encourage healthy eating education and habits, our department made a conscious decision to include daily meals in the cost of camp so every camper would benefit from the incredible meals and snacks served. In addition, kids had the opportunity to assist in planting and harvesting food weekly, through field trips to local farms and on-site gardens. This hands-on down-and-dirty experience gave the children a good understanding of where their food comes from and why the local farm-to-table concept is so im-

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portant to experiencing good nutrition to put into their bodies.

“I love teaching kids about where the food comes from and all the different ways to use it,” shared on-site chef Karyl Kett (aka “Camp Mom”). “Getting the kids involved is key! The more connected they are to the food, the more willing they are to try it. If your hands touch the food in the growing and harvesting process, rather than if it is just placed in front of you, you are more likely to sample the fruits of your labor.

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Being part of this process encouraged kids to be more creative and courageous in their meal-time choices,” Kett added.

Nutritional Services Director Rhonda Ketner was able to use her expertise in “food costing” to keep the food pricing affordable and the quality exceptional.

According to Ketner, “A case of canned pears might cost $36, and after draining and portioning it into ½-cup servings, it yields 50 servings. Compare that to a case of fresh pears that may cost a bit more but can be sliced in 150 servings. If you use food costing and averaging, you can often use fresher, more locally sourced products and actually save money.”

The camp and nutritional staff were intentional about including the weekly “theme” in the daily meals as well. For example, during the Amazon Jungle Week, the kids enjoyed Amazon Ana-

conda Chicken Wraps. Camp Mom Kett made sure all menu items were nutritionally balanced by using whole grains; low-fat, low-sugar preparations; and by focusing heavily on fresh vegetables and fruits. Special dietary needs were always considered and accommodated so all campers could have a delicious, fun experience. “What we have found this summer,” says Kett, “is that kids love to play with their food, so making things festive, fun and engaging is really important.”

In addition, because setting the stage for a relaxing meal is also important, checkered tablecloths and center pieces made out of onion stems were used to help create an atmosphere conducive to enjoying instead of rushing through a meal. Campers, staff and parents alike were impressed with meals being served “home-style,” including with tablecloths and centerpieces.

Healthy food choices and the importance of regular physical activity were promoted by weekly sessions with the experts from a local South Burlington fitness gym, who also partnered with us in our Commit to Health program. These local fitness experts not only provided the campers with direct physical education twice a week, but also provided us with some essential before-and-after statistical data.

NRPA’s five-year Commit to Health campaign is supporting the implementation and evaluation of Healthy Eating and Physical Activity (HEPA) standards in park and recreation sites across the country, and we were eager to jump onboard as early participants. The goal is to have more than 2,000 sites implement it in their out-of-school programs by the end of the five-year campaign, and we would encourage other recreation de-

partments to look into this extraordinary opportunity. In the work we all do, most of us are already exceeding the physical activity standards and, with the prepared supplemental documents and activities that NRPA supplies, implementing the nutrition is easy and “organic.”

Consider stepping up your summer camp offerings next year and taking the leap to sign on to Commit to Health at www.nrpa.org/commit-to-health-resources. Let us all be reminded that no matter what the weather, what the season or what the day brings, we must all…

Keep Calm and PLAY ON! Holly Baker is Assistant Director of Recreation and Parks at South Burlington Recreation and Parks (hbaker@sburl.com). Brett Leonard is Program Specialist at South Burlington Recreation and Parks (bleonard@sburl.com).

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SOCIAL EQUITY Design, Place and Indigenous Ways: Working with Local Communities

By Dr. PennElys Droz, David Jaber and Scott Moore y Medina

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he role of design in enhancing communities — shaping our spaces and landscapes to meet an array of needs — cannot be understated. Challenges lie in making the benefits of design broadly accessible, even to those who can least afford it. We, as the community of planners, architects, land managers, designers and engineers, need to find ways to make our skills available to a wider range of communities.

Our work with rural, tribal and historically under-resourced communities weaves in these qualities, while leveraging the privileges we have as architects, planners and engineers to create broadly shared benefits.

Perhaps one of the biggest favors that architects, engineers and planners can do for themselves, and for the communities with which they work, is to take a step back and understand the history of these places, including where community healing must occur. There are those whom history has favored through war, colonization and economic advantage, yet all people need places to live and work. After many years of wealth transfer and in the face of an ever-shrinking class of clientele able to afford enlisting the skills of professional designers, etc., these fields are waking up, groggy-eyed, to a new reality.

Our intent — and, we would hope, the intent of the vast bulk of the design community — is to create adaptable, innova-

Remembering Indigenous Design A good community engagement process starts with striving to learn. For parkland managers, Native American communities are particularly relevant to the learning process. Native nations are adjacent to many parks and open spaces, and those lands comprise many of the areas where traditional harvesting — of foods, medicines, basketry materials and other crafts materials — takes place.

In the Lakota language, the word for “economy” and “environment” is the same word, symbolizing the deep connection between the continuation of life and the giver and sustainer of life — nature herself. What does this tell us about our own views of economy and the natural world? In most indigenous languages, there are no words for “sustainable” or “regenerative,” but there are words for “living life” and “respecting all of creation.” How connected are we to the life-giving systems that sustain us if we must make use of nouns describing the type of world in which we hope to live, instead of how we are actually living?

If language itself doesn’t always support our efforts, the communities we serve can help. As one Lakota tribal elder once reminded a team of architects and planners at a community meeting where the topic was sustainable design: “You are funny with these ideas. We had self-sufficient, interconnected communities for thousands of years, and it worked. It has only been

Blue Star Integrative Studio

tive, healthy, strong, resilient and hopeful places to live, play, pray and work. To do this well requires several things: • Cultivating real humility and understanding that we, as planners, engineers and architects, do not know everything or have all the answers • Active listening and learning • Respecting the inherent knowledge of different worldviews • Understanding who is not yet at the table and inviting them into the circle • Carving out valuable spaces for meaningful exchanges of ideas and knowledge to occur At Blue Star Integrative Studio (BSI), our practitioners strive to embody these perspectives at a very fundamental level.

Many generations of the Osage Nation gather together to shape the future of their community.

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the last 200 years we got off track. But, if we did it before, we can do it again.”

Remembering also means remembering what it means to be indigenous. Indigenous systems of design and engineering are deeply place- and relationship-based.

Indigenous peoples are faced with the challenge of maintaining and strengthening land tenure, health and nationhood, while providing creative and innovative development opportunities for their people. This work is being done in spite of the legacy of physical, socio-cultural and economic colonization — a testimony to the resilience of native peoples.

Working with Native Communities Many grassroots organizations and community groups throughout native communities have been working to create innovative pathways that cultivate the resilience of native nations. In alignment with this work, BSI and its partners use a community-directed, culturally based indigenous design approach that is grounded in indigenous culture, the relationship of people to their homeland, their relationship with each other, and standard design techniques and tools.

This approach can be applied to infrastructure, architecture, landscape design and whole-systems community design.

The foundation of this design approach is intimate observation and relationship building with the local ecology, including the human social and cultural relationships that are part of that ecology. Examples of ecological design include working with native wetland ecology to purify wastewater while cultivating wildlife habitat, creating community layouts that integrate and enhance the ecological and social health of the beings that inhabit the region, and designing homes and buildings that are responsive to the local climate to enable efficient heating, cooling and lighting, while utilizing locally sourced, nontoxic and natural building materials. Indigenous ecolog

ical design adds to this by using culturally founded observation and learning practices, and the unique cultural values and cosmology of the people as the foundation of design, in combination with scientific data.

Indigenous nations are socially diverse.

In order to pursue strong, unified, nation-building development pathways, it is critical to engage with and be guided by all sectors of society, whether they actively maintain traditional practices or not.

To succeed requires openness and a willingness to do the hard, time-consuming work of building trust, communication and participation.

It is also critical to come with an understanding of the history of attempted cultural annihilation through missionaries, boarding schools and other programs undertaken within indigenous nations.

This past has a powerful legacy. The violent oppression of native peoples and traditions has left a mark within indigenous societies that must be addressed to support resilient design. Further, development and infrastructure within indigenous territories has been largely externally imposed through negotiations with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Housing and Urban Development, corporations and private contractors. This legacy of colonization can be seen in responses of fear, hesitancy and skepticism that are common from indigenous peoples who are asked to share their visions for the future.

It is challenging for people who have been told for generations that their knowledge and practices are lesser and primitive to be asked to participate in practices for contemporary development.

In order to transcend this discomfort, design visioning sessions should be organized and led by local people with known integrity, and be guided by spiritual leaders. If direct, consistent involvement by well-respected spiritual leaders is not a possibility, avenues should be created to ensure their input and involvement at

key decision-making points.

BSI has found that hosting open, facilitated meetings, organized with wide outreach, can be an effective practice to facilitate a unified perspective among diverse groups. These meetings can begin with prayer to create openness and clarify the intent of the process and should also involve multiple roundtable discussions with community members and the design team.

Key questions identified by BSI include: • What values inform your [native nations’] identity?

• How do these values inform your visions of the [project, program, development]?

• How can this [project, program, development] support and put into action these visions and values?

These questions and format can effectively open dialogue to find a unifying foundation and develop strategies of how to learn together.

Takeaways For developers, planners and design communities that seek to take the indigenous approach in a genuine and meaningful way, the task before them is not small.

There can be a real shift in worldview required. Much of the work lies in simply entering into projects from a place of real respect, realizing that many of the answers are within the community and that, indeed, you can’t unlock the answers solely from without. The skillsets of the planning community, valuing deep stakeholder engagement, can be helpful in this way. Also helpful is drawing on the traditions embedded within virtually all cultures, including those of the design team: Elder respect, generosity, hospitality and gratitude.

Dr. PennElys Droz is Executive Director of Sustainable Nations (pennelys@ sustainablenations.org). David Jaber is a Director at Blue Star Integrative Studio (davidj@bsi.studio).

Scott Moore y Medina is Principal Architect at Blue Star Integrative Studio (scottmm@bsi.studio).

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Sahar Coston-Hardy/Sasaki

Overhead shot of Schenley Plaza during the annual WYEP music festival celebration. The white tent (upper-right-hand corner) has fully enclosable sides that not only provide shelter from rain and snow, but also allow for extended use of the space in cooler parts of the year. The entrance to Schenley Park can be seen at top.

Fergus Mulvany omas Koet and Sculpture by Th

Innovative

Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy

Community Celebrations in an Urban Green Space Pittsburgh’s Schenley Plaza is programmed for fun

By Scott Roller

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visit to Pittsburgh’s Schenley Plaza gives a colorful glimpse into how lively, diverse, complex and fun the world can be. On any given day, students of all ethnicities, professionals of every stripe and young parents with their kids all weave through the green space that has become a city centerpiece for unique celebrations of culture and the arts. A project of the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy and the city of Pittsburgh, the 5-acre Schenley Plaza is home to intimate gardens, an expansive Emerald Lawn, a landmark tent and profit-sharing food vendors that feature local produce and a kaleidoscope of tasty fare from around the globe.

One of those vendors — Conflict Kitchen — has brought Schenley Plaza international acclaim. Featuring cuisine from countries with whom the United States is currently in conflict, Conflict Kitchen’s goal is to humanize the citizens from these countries through the celebration of their food and culture. Every few months as Conflict Kitchen’s food changes, new informational handouts are given to each customer and colorful panels on the building’s exterior are switched out with new ones, often featuring the colors from the featured country’s flag.

“Conflict Kitchen is a great way to start a conversation about cultures that may be foreign to

us and to celebrate our common humanity with food and nature,” says Parks Conservancy Senior Manager of Visitor Experiences Shawn Fertitta.

Recent Conflict Kitchen events in Schenley Plaza have furthered its cultural outreach and have included outdoor screenings of Iranian, Palestinian and Cuban films, contemporary African music with a communal Congolese dinner and Lunch Rush Hour trivia questions for those standing in line at the popular spot. The fusion of the culinary, educational and cultural aspects of Conflict Kitchen — all in a beautiful park space — has been wildly successful.

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I N N O V AT I V E C E L E B R AT I O N S

the world for all ages, drawing crowds of listeners to Japanese Daiko drummers, Irish folk music, a cappella ensembles and jazz. A roaming jug band — complete with washboard and homemade instruments — plays impromptu performances throughout the warmer months and organically draws park users to them, often resulting in a crowd clapping along to the Appalachian-influenced tunes.

Adults aren’t the only ones grooving to music at Schenley Plaza. The Parks Conservancy and its programming partners have made kid-friendly activities a lynchpin of the space. Five months of the year, the space is host to weekly afternoon-long Kids Day events that include storytelling musicians, face painting, balloon artists and games that get kids up and moving. One event includes a massive 8-foot-tall inflated beach ball that can often be seen rolling across the Emerald Lawn with a crowd of laughing children chasing after it. Costumed characters, free PNC Carousel rides and nature-centric games of memory round out the day, with kids and their adults alike leaving smiling and happy with the new friends they’ve made.

Innovative event programming for older

Shawn Fertitta

Indeed, Schenley Plaza has been the center of public gatherings of support for a wide range of headline issues, from the Standing Rock Sioux Dakota Access Pipeline and Black Lives Matter, to solidarity with France after the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks. The recent Doctors Without Borders “Forced From Home” interactive exhibit recreated portions of a refugee camp in Schenley Plaza, drawing thousands over a five-day period. Escape rafts, camp tents and a heartbreaking interactive component that replicates the decisions refugees must make about what to leave behind made for a powerful and deeply personal encounter. “It was amazing to see attendees of every background, ethnicity and age all bringing their own ideas to the event. It’s beautiful to see them arrive at a place of empathy together by the end of the experience,” says Fertitta.

Each June, the annual summer concert series with public radio station WYEP kicks off a Summer Music Festival that draws several thousand revelers. Final Fridays concerts on the last Friday of each summer month round out the festival and include nature art, animal track and scat identification, and other fun kid-oriented activities.

Schenley Plaza hosts music from around

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kids at heart has turned into citywide events that garner significant media coverage for Schenley Plaza and the Parks Conservancy.

The Great American Water Balloon Fight (www.greatamericanwaterballoonfight.org) — a collaborative effort between Haiti-dedicated nonprofit Team Tassy and Schenley Plaza — was fun at its most visual, with 3,000 people throwing more than 100,000 water balloons at each other. Team-building events before and after the fight saw partner organizations and volunteers filling water balloons, assisting in event setup and taking part in crime scene-like cleanup sweeps for burst balloon bits that ensured the space was left in pristine shape.

Local resources were celebrated at the weekend-long Sand City Spectacular, where 200 tons of special construction grade sand, mined from a pit in western Pennsylvania, was molded into awe-inspiring forms by sand sculptors from seven countries. Pogopalooza brought kids and adults alike from every corner of the city to Schenley Plaza to witness a four-day extravaganza of competitions, performances and gravity-defying pogo-stick demonstrations. Implementing programming that attracts older kids and young-adults is both practical — considering the plaza’s location among the collegiate set — and forward-thinking. “Engaging young adults and providing a backdrop for lifelong park memories can eventually lead them to become dedicated park supporters,” says Fertitta.

Health and spiritual wellness are another key programming tenet, with a goal of Plaza users feeling deeply connected to the outdoors and the health benefits nature provides. Weekly yoga classes do sun salutations with the majestic Mary Schenley Memorial Fountain, also known as A Song to Nature, in the background, and tai chi draws men and women of all ages, moving in unison on the crisp green Emerald Lawn.

Line dancing to country, pop and R&B music is a stress reducer — and just plain fun The Great American Water Balloon Fight takes place on Schenley Plaza’s Emerald Lawn.

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— for dozens of park users throughout the summer, and impromptu hacky sack games keep college students moving from spring until fall. Programming that continues through the winter months ensures user engagement in any weather and has included an annual menorah lighting ceremony, winter solstice yoga, seasonal holiday lights and organized snowball fights. Fully enclosable sides on the plaza’s central tent allow shelter from rain and snow while extending its use into the cooler weather.

These celebrations occur in the heart of Pittsburgh’s education row, a lively 2-mile stretch of Forbes Avenue in the Oakland area of the city that is home to nearly 50,000 University of Pittsburgh, Carlow University and Carnegie Mellon University students.

They are intertwined with residents of oldschool neighborhoods and colonial-style columned homes, bordered on one end by 456-acre Schenley Park and, on the other, by the city’s richly historic Hill District.

The realization of Schenley Plaza as a community-gathering spot and grand entrance into the larger Schenley Park fulfills the original intention for the space. The plot of land at the northwestern tip of the park that is now Schenley Plaza was originally a gully and was filled in the early 1900s. In its place, a tree-lined green space and a gorgeous statue fountain memorial honoring Mary Schenley, the heiress and philanthropist who donated the land in 1889, was constructed. A Song to Nature by Lincoln penny designer Victor David Brenner became a popular landmark, with both students and community neighbors gathering at the perimeters of the water to talk, study or rest.

By the 1930s, however, the burgeoning population of the city and the accompanying need for additional parking spaces resulted in the majority of the site being paved with asphalt. The once green space was now an enormous parking lot, an eyesore in the heart of this cultural district, and remained so for the rest of the century. In the mid-2000s, the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy began a design process with members of the community, city government and the

Melissa McMasters

Crowds enjoy the Victorian-era inspired PNC Carousel at Schenley Plaza.

design firm Sasaki Associates, with a goal of creating a vibrant park space for the modern age. “Sasaki’s aim for the design for Schenley Plaza was one that unifies the various land uses that surround the plaza and creates a green space where people from the nearby neighborhood and the city can enjoy both the pleasures of daily life and periodic special events,” says Sasaki Senior Associate Susannah Ross.

“We designed a space that accommodates celebrations large and small, whether in small groups in one of the intimate garden spaces, groups of hundreds in the oval plaza under a swooping tent or in crowds of thousands on the Emerald Lawn.” The plaza stitches together Schenley Park and the Oakland neighborhood urban fabric, inviting people to engage with the landscape and with each other.

Green infrastructure elements that keep stormwater from the expansive lawn out of the city’s sewage system — instead of channeling it back into a nearby stream system — were a major part of the design.

Finally, after years of input, design consolation and construction, the new Schenley Plaza opened in 2006 to great acclaim.

The challenge of filling Schenley Plaza with programming was met with open arms by the Parks Conservancy. The several hundred events that take place there each year are thoughtfully chosen for their creativity,

inclusiveness and ability to both appeal to the almost 500,000 people who pass through the space and to attract new park goers. Carefully considered programming benefits the plaza’s on-site partners through increased foot traffic, which can range from additional dozens to thousands. “Diverse programming is crucial, not only to serving our wonderfully wide range of plaza users, but also for bringing new business to our partner vendors,” says Fertitta.

From quiet, romantic walks to crowds of thousands dancing to a band on a summer night, this green space was designed for community interactions of all sizes.

After celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, Schenley Plaza is gearing up for the next decade of bringing diverse communities together. What’s the secret to keeping enthused about programming meaningful times for a beloved green space? “Start with good design. Know your audience and have income generators from event rentals and vendor partners, and creative, targeted marketing and communication,” says Fertitta. “And, most importantly, wake up every day and believe that people are going to have a fun and memorable time in your space.”

Scott Roller is Senior Manager, Communications and Creative at the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy (sroller@pittsburghparks.org).

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Trojan Park:

By Paula M. Jacoby-Garrett

Special thanks to our 2016 Parks Build Community Donors: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Accella Polyurethane Systems BCI Burke Dero (a PlayCore Company) Freenotes Harmony Park (a PlayCore Company) Forum Studio GameTime (a PlayCore Company) Gared Sports Greenfields Outdoor Fitness iZone Imaging Jr. NBA Kay Park Recreation MDF — Most Dependable Fountains Inc. Musco Lighting Pilot Rock PlayCore Playworld Poligon Southwest Airlines Sport Court SportsPlay WhiteWater

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Welcome to the Parks Build

Community Family

T

his year, NRPA teamed up with Great Rivers Greenway to create Trojan Park for the community of Wellston, Missouri. Wellston, home to slightly more than 2,000 Missourians, was once a vibrant manufacturing and shopping district. As the years passed, its economic vitality declined as businesses either moved out or closed their doors. Today, Wellston is one of the poorest cities in Missouri. Residents strive to keep the community together, but they face challenges that affect basic city services such as schools, police and maintenance. Before the creation of Trojan Park, the city lacked a place for children to play and a central area for community events. The creation of the park not only fills a void for this community that has seen its share of success and loss, but also provides much-needed recreation facilities along Missouri’s St. Vincent Greenway.

NRPA’s Parks Build Community initiative has been transforming communities, one park at a time, for the past seven years. In each of those years, NRPA worked with the local park and recreation agencies in the cities where its Annual Conference is held to identify and either revitalize an existing park, or create a new one for a community in need. NRPA then partners with industry and nonprofit organizations to provide the funding and materials necessary to complete the project.

Parks Build Community “allows us to demonstrate to the public, the

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power that we bring to communities through parks,” says NRPA President and CEO Barbara Tulipane.

“Through the program, hard work and generous donors can create a long-lasting impact on those communities that could use a helping hand. Just a little over a month ago, Trojan Park opened to the community of Wellston providing a gathering spot and greater sense of place to a city that needs it.”

A Team Effort Great Rivers Greenway, the partner agency on the Trojan Park project, has worked since 2000 to develop trails and

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PA R K S B U I L D CO M M U N I T Y

Alumni from the community’s long-since-closed high school proudly display the black and red school colors.

Drummers lead the parade to the new Trojan Park.

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greenways to connect parks and communities throughout the greater St. Louis area. One of Great Rivers Greenway’s core projects, the St. Vincent Greenway, was established to connect St. Vincent Park to the University of Missouri — St. Louis campus.

This greenway provides conductivity to these two major sites and access to several MetroLink stations along the route.

“Trojan Park was one of the more complex projects we have ever done, but it was absolutely the most rewarding,” says Susan Trautman, executive director of Great Rivers Greenway. “The collaboration with the city of Wellston and all the amazing donors brought to life a dream come true for the children and families in this community. I have never witnessed so many people, so happy in one place at one time. It was a powerful experience and a tribute to how partnership can transform a community.”

To fully understand the needs of this community, Great Rivers Greenway teamed up with Beyond Housing, a community development charity, and Forum Studio, a full-service architecture practice, to conduct stakeholder meetings with Wellston’s Mayor, Nate Griffin, and community members to define their needs. “What we wanted to do is make the community the center of the project,” explains Neil Eisenberger, an associate principal and senior project manager at Forum Studio. This attention to detail helped create a park that is specific to the needs of this population, from the young children who wanted a place to play, to the adults

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who wanted a place for social interaction and community events.

Trojan Park was designed to integrate play equipment with benches and social areas in the immediate vicinity so caregivers could watch their children play while they socialized. The state-of-theart playground, splash pad, picnic areas and shade structures provide for a variety of activities. ADA-accessible fitness equipment offers health opportunities for those with physical limitations, and music fills the air with outdoor musical instruments. The pavilion provides a place for family events and serves as a community gathering place. For Mayor Griffin, the park is about Wellston’s future. “We have so much pride, dedication and commitment to our community,” and this park “will change the culture of our city,” he says.

The full-court basketball court is a favorite among the Wellston residents who remember the record wins of the local high school’s basketball team. Although the school no longer exists, the park is named after the school’s mascot — the Trojan. Mayor Griffin recalls that the school “won three state titles, made seven state appearances, had more than 10 league titles and over 15 district championships.”

Valued at $2 million, Trojan Park would not have been possible without the generous contributions from project donors. They understand that their efforts result in much more than a physical structure. “NRPA’s Parks Build Community initiative doesn’t just build or renovate parks, it helps transform the communities around them,” says Jeff Rogers, vice president of Musco Lighting. “We’re proud to donate our industry-leading LED system and are excited to see the impact Trojan Park will have on the Wellston community.”

Brian D. Johnson, vice president of marketing and product development, BCI Burke, adds: “Giving back and leaving a positive mark on all of the ar-

eas we visit through Parks Build Community is such an amazing concept and one we at Burke support entirely. It ties directly back to our mission to bring a higher level of play to all children, in all communities.”

“It is an honor and privilege to have been part of the project at Trojan Park, a truly national effort that brought to reality yet another Parks Build Community initiative by NRPA,” says Sam Mendel-

From the laughter, smiles and animated conversations, it was evident that Trojan Park has already begun to transform this resilient community. son, president and CEO of Greenfields Outdoor Fitness, Inc. “Through their persistent philanthropic efforts, NRPA recruited many manufacturers to participate in this effort to bring a tremendously important amenity to a community that really needed it. This is Greenfields’ fourth consecutive year, and we look forward to continuing this effort for many years to come.”

A Bright Beginning As if on order, a crisp, sunny day marked Trojan Park’s opening celebration on Saturday, October 8, and the pride of the community was on full display. First on the scene was a roaming band of drummers, whose infectious rhythm was like a siren call, drawing young and old from the nearby neighborhood to the park. They were soon joined by hundreds of community members who either participated in or followed a parade that wound its way from the old school to the new park.

Many in the crowd were decked in

red and black, the community’s old high school colors and, as the dignitaries offered their remarks to the crowd of mainly adults, the children proceeded to enjoy every piece of the park’s new equipment. Soon, the smell of burgers and hot dogs on the grill wafted through the air, and this once-vacant lot, now home to a beautiful park, was overflowing with activity. From the laughter, smiles and animated conversations, it was evident that Trojan Park has already begun to transform this resilient community.

The Next Community Transformation “We invite you to join us next year in New Orleans, Louisiana, as Parks Build Community once again creates change for a community,” says Tulipane.

“Over the next several months, we will work closely with the New Orleans Recreation Development Commission and generous donors to bring this project to life.”

The New Orleans project will feature another lot-to-park transformation by reimagining a portion of the Lafitte Greenway, a designated parkway in the Crescent City that will connect underserved communities to sports fields, playgrounds, water features and numerous family gathering spots.

For more information about Parks Build Community projects, visit www.nrpa. org/parksbuildcommunity, or contact Gina Mullins-Cohen at gcohen@nrpa. org or by calling 703.858.2184.

Paula Jacoby-Garrett is a freelance writer located in Las Vegas, Nevada (paula.jacoby. garrett@gmail.com).

Children participate in a basketball clinic (at top) and get a turn playing the drums during the Trojan Park opening celebration.

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NRPA Update NRPA Hits the Red Carpet to Promote Recycling with ABC

O

n September 18, NRPA attended the 68th Emmy® Awards to promote recycling and conservation thanks to our collaboration with Disney|ABC Television Group. At the awards show, Disney|ABC had recycling bins set up throughout the red carpet and media center. In the media center, NRPA staffed an educational booth during the event to showcase the importance of recycling and parks and recreation’s role in creating a greener planet and fostering environmental stewardship.

Attending the 68th Emmy Awards differed quite a bit from NRPA’s normal business trips. Not only were branded polos replaced by formal gowns, but our normal audience was also replaced with Emmy Award-winning actors!

NRPA’s booth in the media center was located just outside the area where stars take photos with their awards.

As award winners completed their interview and photography circuit, they would end up next to NRPA’s booth that promoted the benefits of recycling and parks and recreation.

As part of this initiative, NRPA and Disney|ABC hosted a challenge called Imagine Green where students who participate in out-of-school programming at local Los Angeles area park and recreation centers were encouraged to get creative by producing designs to reuse excess water bottles. One design was chosen as the winner and highlighted at our booth during the awards show.

The winning design was submitted by 12-year-old Malik Mbugua — a student at View Park Preparatory Accelerated Charter Middle School and an afterschool participant at the city of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks’ EXPO Center. His idea for reusing plastic water bottles was a tabletop community garden.

40 Parks & Recreation

“My project is going to teach others how they can help our community in easy but long lasting ways,” Malik said.

“My mini garden will create a greener future by showing the community how we can reuse plastic bottles to make a big difference worldwide.”

Malik has a passion for science, reading and travel. He loves that parks provide a sense of community and are a place where he can feel safe and accepted. Malik hopes to pursue a degree in computer science or forensics at USC or Harvard.

Award-winning actors and actresses passed

by NRPA's booth during the 68th Emmy® Awards.

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Malik Mbugua's clever tabletop community garden design won the Imagine Green challenge.

NRPA Communications Manager Roxanne Sutton (left) and NRPA Program Manager Allison Colman (right) at the 68th Emmy® Awards.

this holiday season

TREAT YOurSELF Become a certified park and recreation professional (CPRP) to advance your career

GET A FREE CPRP PREP COURSE ($100 VALUE) when you apply to take the CPRP Exam Offer valid through February 28, 2017

To learn more, visit www.nrpa.org/CPRP-Present

NRPA Update

The NRPA Board of Directors Is Now Accepting Applications

Hot Topics The year may be winding down, but that doesn’t mean the conversations are stopping on NRPA Connect! Now is the time to network with your peers to gain inspiration for 2017. Below is a preview of some of the latest hot topics being discussed: Youth Scholarship Program: Do you have a scholarship program for children in your area to help them take advantage of fee-based classes and events? Share your insight in this discussion to help your fellow professionals create scholarship and fee-assistance programs.

Children in Dog Parks: Dog parks are always a popular subject on Connect. Does your agency have a policy on children in dog parks? Members discuss their policies that range from no children allowed to all minors under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.

Tennis Court Renovations: It’s never too early to start planning your spring and summer sports.

This thread looks at the different options for resurfacing your tennis courts, even in different climates and weather conditions.

Sledding Safety: It’s wintertime and that means families will be grabbing their sleds and heading to your parks. Members share examples of their signage to make sure patrons have fun and stay safe.

1

2

3 4

T

he NRPA Board of Directors is seeking individuals with experience in one or more of NRPA’s three areas of focus, our Three Pillars: Health and Wellness, Conservation, and Social Equity. Whether you’re an innovative park and recreation professional, public health official, community planner, conservationist, park advocate or an elected official who wants to help NRPA further its mission, consider joining the NRPA Board of Directors.

Happy Holidays to all NRPA Members

Visit NRPA Connect (www.nrpaconnect.org) and let the networking begin!

Need help accessing your profile? Contact us by email at customerservice@ nrpa.org or by phone at 800.626.6772.

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NRPA is committed to having a diverse board — including by geography, age, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and ability level — to ensure that its leadership reflects the communities it serves.

To apply, visit www.nrpa.org/ About-NRPA/Leading-the-Association, complete the application and return to NRPA Executive Assistant Michele White at mwhite@nrpa.org no later than February 17, 2017.

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A GREAT MAINTENANCE PROGRAM STARTS WITH GREAT TRAINING

The Maintenance Management School is a comprehensive two-year professional development program designed to teach park and recreation professionals how to develop and manage a wide variety of maintenance programs, and allow people in the same field to connect and share similar issues.

January 29 - February 3, 2017 Oglebay Resort and Conference Center Wheeling, West Virginia

Find out more at www.NRPA.org/MMS Official Sponsor

NRPA Update

Member Spotlight: Patty Wieliczko

P

atty Wieliczko would be the first to tell you she absolutely loves her job with the city of Thornton Park and Recreation in Colorado. In fact, just this year, Wieliczko earned a promotion to graphics and marketing coordinator — a title change that has brought her career full circle. After graduating from Wittenberg University with a degree in graphic design and a minor in photography, Wieliczko worked as an assistant artist at an advertising firm and then as graphics director for a Newark, Ohio-based printing company.

“Over the years, I had begun to realize that most everyone who had a computer had become their own graphic designer, with the aid of Microsoft Word and their favorite clipart package,” recalls Wieliczko. After 15-plus years working in graphic design, she longed for something different. Parks & Recreation magazine recently spoke with Wieliczko to learn more about what inspired her to make a career change

and what makes her current position in parks and recreation rewarding.

Parks & Recreation magazine: How did you get your start in parks and recreation?

Patty Wieliczko: In the late 1990s, I met my future husband, left my beloved home state of Ohio and relocated to Colorado to begin a new chapter in my life. When I arrived, I took over a year off work to get to know my new surroundings. When my husband pointed out an ad in the newspaper calling for

I love the fact that what we provide to the community directly affects people in a positive manner...I get to see firsthand the community's love of what we do and the positive impact it has on their lives. a special event assistant with the city of Thornton’s recreation division, I was intrigued. I thought, “How great would it be to go into work and be surrounded by ‘fun’ every day!” I interviewed for 44 Parks & Recreation

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and was offered the job in March 2002.

Within that same year, I also began working as a guest service specialist at the front desks of the community center and the recreation center. During quiet times at the desk, I would offer to design posters, flyers and the like for many of the recreation coordinators to keep myself busy. In 2006, a full-time visual arts specialist position was created, and I was once again wearing the hat of a designer, but under the fun and exciting umbrella of municipal recreation! It just all played out; it couldn’t have been a better road for me.

P&R: What’s particularly fun about serving the community?

Wieliczko: I love the fact that what we provide to the community directly affects people in a positive manner. I am fortunate that my office is located in our recreation center where every day, I get to see firsthand the community’s love of what we do and the positive impact it has on their lives. This is also evident at our festivals and special events, some of which draw upwards of 50,000 attendees.

P&R: What advice would you give someone who is interested in working in the parks and recreation industry?

Wieliczko: Go for it! There are so many exciting facets to this industry. I believe that just about anyone with a particular skill or talent that has an interest in parks and recreation can find their niche here. I’m living proof of it because I never thought I could use my degree in recreation — and it ended up being a perfect fit.

— Vitisia Paynich, Freelance Writer for Parks & Recreation magazine

Give the Gift that Keeps On Giving!

I

t’s the season of giving and if your agency is an NRPA Premier Member, you’ve already given your employees the gift that keeps on giving. But, did you know you can also give them the gift of certification to help them advance their career and your agency’s overall success at a discount? The Premier Certification Package is just one of the many great benefits included with being a Premier Member.

Join the almost 5,000 CPRP and CPRE professionals!

Here are five reasons to become a certified professional: 1. Greater career opportunities and advancement 2. Demonstration of your commitment to the parks and recreation profession 3. Enhanced quality of parks and recreation services nationwide 4. Recognition for your accomplishments and ability to meet national standards 5. Expansion of your skills and knowledge through professional development

Test Your Park and Recreation Knowledge The following question is a sample Certified Park and Recreation Professional (CPRP) examination question: Which of the following is the primary purpose for parks or facilities personnel to wear uniforms?

A. Employee image enhancement B. Ease in purchasing and ordering C. Safety improvement D. Easy recognition by the public Calling all beginning to midlevel professionals! The Certified Park and Recreation Professional (CPRP) is the national standard for all park and recreation professionals who want to be at the forefront of their profession. For more information on the CPRP certification program, visit www.nrpa.org/cprp.

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Answer: D

This special package provides the opportunity to earn Certified Park and Recreation Professional (CPRP) and/ or Certified Park and Recreation Executive (CPRE) credentials at the best group-rate pricing. The more employees who sign up, the larger the discount your agency receives. Study materials, including the CPRP Study Guide, CPRP Practice Exam and Management of Park and Recreation Agencies Text, are also offered at a discounted rate.

Follow these easy steps to take advantage of the Premier Certification Package (www.nrpa.org/Professional-Development/Certification/CPRP/ Premiere-Certification-Package): 1. Determine the main point of contact for your agency.

2. Determine who in your agency will benefit from this opportunity.

• Review the candidate qualifications on the qualification/candidate interest form. Please note there is one for CPRP and one for CPRE. • If you are unsure of your employees’qualifications, send the qualification/candidate interest form to your identified candidates and have them returned to you.

3. Complete the Premier Agency Application and submit via email to certification@nrpa.org.

That is all there is to it! Not a NRPA Premier Member? Visit www.nrpa.org/ premier to sign up today.

Parks & Recreation

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NRPA Update 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 WEBINAR WONDERLAND Did you know that NRPA Professional Development, along with various partners, produces frequent webinars, many of which are eligible for continuing education credits (CEUs)? As the upcoming certification renewal period approaches, consider visiting www.nrpa.org/webinars to view our schedule and latest offerings. There are currently three webinars slated for December and a growing roster for 2017. NRPA Premier Members enjoy the exclusive benefit of access to an additional free monthly webinar — this month’s Premier webinar is, “Trend Hunt 2016: What’s Hot and What’s to Come for Parks and Recreation.” Visit www. nrpa.org/premier for information on how to upgrade your membership and www.nrpa.org/webinars to give yourself the gift of continuing education!

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

January 15-20, 2017

January 29 - February 3, 2017

March 12-17, 2017

August 27-September 1, 2017

AFO PROGRAM

Wilmington, Delaware Little Rock, Arkansas Seattle, Washington Canton, Michigan Westerville, Ohio Tullahoma, Tennessee Derby, Kansas Margate, Florida Cheney, Washington Anaheim, California

25-26 26-27

Sacramento, California Lawrence, Kansas

www.nrpa.org/AFO

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CPSI PROGRAM FEB JAN

1-2 2-3 6-7 9-10 9-10 14-15 15-16 23-24 29-31 30-31

www.nrpa.org/education

MAR

FEB MAR

Phoenix, Arizona Memphis, Tennessee Castro Valley, California Hershey, Pennsylvania Sarasota, Florida Hartford, Connecticut

7-8 7-8 14-15 20-21 23-24 28- March 1

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September 26-28, 2017 – New Orleans, Louisiana

Phoenix, Arizona

APR

JAN

18-19

4-6 22-24 28- March 2 6-8 14-16 14-16 28-30 28-30 29-31

Landover, Maryland Columbia, Tennessee Sacramento, California Overland Park, Kansas Phoenix, Arizona Bismarck, North Dakota St. Charles, Missouri Auburn, Washington Newport News, Virginia

www.nrpa.org/CPSI

How Would You Judge Your Agency’s Performance?

You Shouldn’t Have to Guess Use NRPA Park Metrics to evaluate your agency’s performance so you can more effectively manage and plan operating resources and capital facilities. NRPA Park Metrics, formerly known as PRORAGIS, is the most comprehensive source of data standards and insights for park and recreation agencies. Use this suite of tools to easily build customized reports and compare your agency to others to gain more funding support, improve operations and better serve your community.

Enter Your Data by January 25 for a chance to win a $50 Amazon Gift Card.

PARK METRICS

www.nrpa.org/Metrics

Operations Saving Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park from Concert Damage Sand capping with an inorganic soil amendment protects grass from hordes of music fans

By Rena Wish Cohen

I

n 2015, downtown Atlanta’s landmark Centennial Olympic Park suffered a muddy beating from the feet of concertgoers. The 21-acre park saw 18 inches of rain in two months at the height of a spring festival season that drew 57,000 people for one, three-day event alone. The combination of heavy rains and heavy foot traffic left the area without a blade of grass once the mud dried, forcing a 100-day shutdown of the 3.5-acre concert area to regrow the ground cover.

Most of the rain-ravaged section was simply aerated, fertilized and irrigated, but, on the advice of a local turfgrass specialist, park officials decided to create a 10,000-square-foot demo area using a sand cap-based drainage system similar to those used on golf courses. The system included a new subgrade topped by drainage tiles, a 4-inch layer of grav-

el, and a 6-inch layer of sand mixed with 15 percent Profile Porous Ceramic (PPC) Greens Grade — an inorganic soil amendment that holds moisture nutrients and improves firmness and drainage in sand-based root zones. The goal was to compare mud and damage resistance between the areas with and without a sand cap when rain struck.

Crews install new sod on the surface of Centennial Park after completing work on an innovative sand-capped root zone to promote better drainage and minimize grass damage during rain events.

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The first big test came in October 2015 at a sold-out Foo Fighters concert attended by 20,000 fans. Despite near-daily rain from the previous week and a steady drizzle during the event, the grass in the sandcapped section survived with little damage.

In contrast, the untreated area turned nearly as muddy as before and was reduced to a hardscrabble expanse of brown with barely a trace of turf when the weather cleared.

“The sand cap was a tremendous success compared to the untreated native soils,” says Steve Ware, ground operations manager for the Georgia World Congress Center Authority, which owns and manages Centennial Olympic Park. “We attribute that to a great design specification.”

Those results prompted park officials to sand cap an additional 30,000 square feet of turf the following summer. The rest of the core 3.5-acre area is expected to be capped in phases in coming years. “Our hope is to be able to better handle our current and future event schedule because we have the right soil structure to withstand the constant traffic,” Ware adds.

Olympic Legacy Originally built for the 1996 Summer Olympics, Centennial Olympic Park is Downtown Atlanta’s largest green space and one of the most lasting legacies of Atlanta’s time in the Olympic spotlight. Since the 1996 Olympic Games, the park has attracted $2.2 billion in new development

to Downtown Atlanta, with an additional $1.5 billion in development planned for the future. It functions as a performing arts venue, community gathering space and an anchor for downtown development.

The grass had tolerated light foot traffic for years without any major turf damage.

Then, in 2011, the park began holding larger, ticketed events as part of an effort to boost the city’s convention and tourism business. The bigger crowds initially had little effect on the turf, thanks to cooperative weather and a limited schedule, but the destruction sustained during the 2015 festival season sparked a search for a means of damage control.

“They needed to get the park back into shape, and, at the same time, they wanted to increase the number of events at the venue. They couldn’t do that under the existing soil conditions,” says Clint Waltz, a turfgrass extension specialist at the University of Georgia College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences, who has served as a consultant to the park for many years.

“If they had another extreme rain incident with a fuller schedule, they wouldn’t be able to restore the turf fast enough for the next event to provide a quality facility, much less a safe one.”

Sand-Cap Fix The challenge was that the entire park space was built on native soils with only surface drainage. Also, in the decades since its construction, the contour of the site had changed, leaving just a 3-percent grade that offers little protection against a heavy rainfall.

Waltz recommended the sand-capping technique to create a subsurface drainage system that would flush excess water through the sand and gravel layers and into the drainage pipes.

Based on his Ph.D. work, he also advised Centennial Olympic Park to mix an inorganic soil amendment into the sand layer at a 15-percent rate to pro

Once installed, the sand-capped section of the lawn looks identical to the rest of the park’s grass-covered areas. The system of drainage tiles, gravel and sand mixed with an inorganic soil amendment is hidden beneath the sod.

duce a firmer surface and better drainage than the sand/peat mix that is frequently used for sand-cap projects.

Organic materials like peat can degrade over time, causing instability in both the mix and the turf surface. This also leads to reduced drainage that in turn depletes the oxygen in the soil and harms the health of the grass plant. Multiple studies have shown that inorganic soil amendments eliminate these complications and become a permanent modification, leading to increased adoption in sand-capping applications.

The effects at Centennial Olympic Park are perceptible even in the absence of a crisis situation. “We notice the drainage is continuous throughout the system. Water is always moving, and we now have a percolation rate of 13 inches per hour,” Ware says.

“You can practically feel the difference.”

Long-Term Payoff Since the big rains of 2015 and installation of the new drainage system, Centennial Olympic Park has also modified a number of grass-maintenance procedures to stay ahead of damage and wear.

The grounds crews have increased

fertilization by an extra round and have added irrigation and solid-core aeration in the sand-capped areas. On the untreated sections, they contract out two aerations and perform an extra hollow-tine aeration in between. In the event of major damage on those sections, they re-sod rather than simply fertilizing and irrigating if there is less than 70 percent leaf coverage.

Ware believes that sand capping the park’s most heavily used 3.5 acres is important to maintaining a healthy, damage-resistant green space that can accommodate the park’s expanding event schedule. With no direct public funding to the park, he also views it as a smart investment that will pay off by reducing seasonal expenses.

“We are really aiming for sustainability.

We don’t want to have to rebuild or resod each time there is a concert or event,” Ware says. “The sand-cap strategy enables us to make a long-term investment and have sustainable turfgrass that allows the park to be a great place for the people of this area to enjoy — rain or shine.”

Rena Wish Cohen is a Contributor at Profile Products (info@profileproducts.com).

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Operations

Aquatics Trends

By George Deines, AFO

A

ccording to the World Waterpark Association, the development of aquatic centers and municipal waterparks is one of the fastest growing segments in the water leisure industry within the United States. One industry report puts the number of U.S. waterparks at 858, up by 24 parks between March 2014 and March 2015, with the majority of them being outdoor, municipally owned waterparks. Aquatics professionals, in order to help their agencies plan for the future and stay relevant to their communities, need to stay on top of current industry trends. Following are some of the most prevalent nationwide trends in aquatics today: Admission Prices Over the years, as the features and amenities at aquatic centers have changed, the value of admission has steadily increased.

While aging swimming pools built in the 1970s and 1980s still charge a modest $1–$2 for admission, the family aquatic centers of the ’80s, ’90s and 2000s, with their various amenities, can easily charge $5–$10. The more and varied the amenities an aquatic center offers, the more guests it attracts, the longer they stay and the higher the admission fee that can be charged. The primary driver is the length of stay of their guests.

Increased Subsidy for Aging Facilities With the rise of newer family-oriented aquatic centers, aging “flatwater” pools with low admission prices have seen a dramatic drop-off in attendance and use, correlating to higher subsidies. While attendance at these facilities can fall below 100 people per day, newer centers can exceed 500–750 guests per day. However, just because these aging facilities are subsidized at a higher rate does not mean they lack value. They still provide valuable instructional, competitive, fitness and recreational experiences to communities across the country. Many of these facilities are adding

amenities, such as waterslides, climbing walls or an adjacent spray pad to increase their recreational value, as well as focusing on aquatic programs (swim team, water polo, summer camps) and partnerships with local swim teams and school districts to help increase usage of their facility.

Rising Construction Costs As municipalities take these older facilities offline and replace them with new ones, the number of aquatic construction projects has increased over the past several years. This, coupled with the rising cost and short supply of materials for aquatic facility construction, has caused a dramatic increase in the price of aquatic construction, sometimes at a rate of 5 percent every six months. Entities looking to build a new aquatic center need to factor in this current inflation rate when developing capital budgets to avoid having to scale back on their design should the bids come in too high.

Kmiecik Imagery

Spray Parks Spray parks have made a big splash as a common replacement for aging swimming pools, particularly because they still provide the community with aquatic experiences without the high operating costs of traditional pools. Spray parks do not require high levels of staffing, require only minimal maintenance and offer a no-cost (or low-cost) alternative to a swimming pool. They typically appeal to kids 2–12 year olds and can be a stand-alone facility in a community park or incorporated inside a family aquatic center.

The Bartlett Aquatic Center in Bartlett, Illinois, includes an array of amenities, including an eight-lane lap pool with a zero-depth entry section, a lazy river, zip line over the water, slides and a spray playground.

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School District Competitive Natatoriums Another trend seen across the country pertains to the planning, designing and building of competitive swim venues by

Municipal Aquatics — Go Big or Go Home!

While school districts continue to build competitive venues, municipalities continue to build large outdoor recreational aquatic facilities that incorporate a greater number of aquatic features and attractions that were once reserved for the private waterpark sector. Features such as wave pools, large multilevel children’s play structures and extreme multi-passenger thrill attractions have become more and more commonplace as municipal aquatic facilities continue to provide aquatic experiences similar to those at larger, private waterparks, just on a different scale and, typically, at a lower price point.

Partnerships When it comes to the planning, design, construction and operation of an indoor aquatic facility, it makes sense to explore various partnership models in order to maximize the usage of an aquatic center, as well as to minimize the subsidy. A typical approach involves a school district teaming up with a local municipality to collaborate on the construction of a facility and then deciding which entity will be in charge of its operation, or if a third-party operator (such as a YMCA) will be brought in to manage and

Susan Schneider

school districts. Over the past five to 10 years, school districts have taken the lead in building and operating competitive natatoriums primarily to provide space for their high school swim teams, but also as valuable lane space for local USA swim teams, water polo clubs, synchronized swimming and other community programs, such as swim lessons and water fitness. Several of these natatoriums also have a shallow, warm-water pool that the school district uses to start a water safety program for either second or third graders, since swimming is an integral skill for these students to learn.

The Rob Fleming Aquatic Center in The Woodlands, Texas, is a resort-style, free-form pool with beach entry and an interactive play area.

program the facility. This model helps to keep the pool filled the majority of the day and allows the operating costs to be split three ways instead of just one way.

Sustainability Whenever we talk about aquatic trends, sustainability — whether environmental or financial — usually rises to the top of the list.

A variety of means exist for environmental sustainability, including LED lighting, variable frequency drives for energy efficiency and regenerative media filtration to save on

A child revels among the jets of water in a local spray park.

water usage. In terms of financial sustainability, facilities look at tiered pricing models for both memberships and programming in order to maximize revenue based on demand, as well as at marketing themselves against all entertainment venues, not only other aquatic centers. This, in addition to the latest software that allows for detailed tracking of personnel hours, facility expenses and revenues, provides aquatic centers with several options to set up their operation for financial success.

In addition to staying current about their growing and ever-changing industry, aquatic operators also need to stay tuned in to the needs and desires of their community in order to continue to offer quality aquatics programming and experiences. NRPA Facility Market Reports, which offer key data and insights about the market served within a 10-minute drive of an agency’s facility, are a great tool for agencies seeking to gain a greater understanding of the residents they serve. Visit www.nrpa.org/FMR for more information or to request a report. Another great resource of industry information will be the 2017 NRPA Annual Conference, which will include a new aquatic-specific education track.

George Deines, AFO, is Project Director for Counsilman-Hunsaker (georgedeines@ chh2o.com).

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Products Indoor Sports Lighting

Shade Sails

LSI Industries’ Courtsider Sports Lighting’s SXS2 LED indoor fixture is a high-output indirect solution for interior spaces with high ceilings — indoor tennis courts, field houses and sports practice facilities. SXS2 offers the perfect combination of LED’s low-energy consumption and high light output — up to 84,000 lumens. This fixture is excellent for retrofit and new construction in place of traditional, high wattage, wasteful HID fixtures. LSI INDUSTRIES, 513.793.3200, WWW. LSI-INDUSTRIES.COM

Shade sails — an architectural solution to an age-old problem.

If your client needs protection from the sun’s harmful UV rays yet desires aesthetic flare, then look no further than Modern Shade Sails. From playgrounds to waterparks to outdoor theaters, Modern Shade Sails are uniquely designed to create shade with eye-catching curb appeal that is sure to enhance any project. Send us your project info today! MODERN SHADE SAILS, 877.385.3444, WWW.MODERNSHADELLC.COM

Play Systems

Snow Removal Equipment

Cre8Play is excited to announce three new Play Systems to its product category. The launch of these systems marks the first time the company has offered complete play systems as a ready-to-order product. Horizon Knoll, Tree Stump Slide and Oak Landing capture the true essence of Cre8Play with high design and detail in realistic surfacing. Broaden your horizons, but not your space! These compact, complete play systems are loaded with fun and fit nicely into small areas, both indoor and outdoor!

Easy to install. Glass-Fiber Reinforced Concrete surface for durability.

CRE8PLAY, 612.670.8195, WWW.CRE8PLAY.COM

Hiniker Company offers a complete line of snowplows and material spreaders designed for the professional snow removal market. Innovative products, such as the Hiniker Scoop Plow, the Hiniker C-Plow, and the new Hiniker Torsion-Trip V-Plow, enable professional contractors to move snow more efficiently, resulting in faster job completion and greater profitability. All Hiniker plows feature the time-saving, convenient Hiniker Quick-Hitch or Quick-Hitch2 system. HINIKER COMPANY, 800.433.5620, WWW.HINIKER.COM

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s ice e Pr st rvic ers e e w Lo eat S stom Gr c Cu rrifi Te

Recycled site furnishings • park signs

Bright Idea Shops, LLC Akron, Ohio 800-886-8990 fax 330-258-0167 www.brightideashops.com www.park-signs.net www.di

INCREASE PARK

REVENUE

Quality and Expertise The Founding Company of Disc Golf

AT NO COST!

40 YEARS OF UNMATCHED QUALITY, DURABILITY AND PERFORMANCE

Congratulations to our park partner, Cleveland Metro Parks, on winning the 2016 NRPA Gold medal in Class I!

INDUSTRY LEADING WARRANTY THE HIGHEST QUALITY INDUSTRIAL GRADE HOT DIPPED GALVANIZING TOP TO BOTTOM THE LEADING MANUFACTURE OF DISC GOLF COURSE EQUIPMENT AND THE PLAYER PREFERRED BASKETS

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, parks around the US In partnership with tes era op d an al l the capit Go Ape provides al ing cit ex an g din ad ses while the adventure cour ity to your park. recreational amen

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marketplace The Easiest Way To Build Precast Concrete Buildings For All Your Park & Rec Needs VERSATILE • DURABLE • FAST • ECONOMICAL • SECURE Standard and custom plans, styles, colors, finishes • Sizes from 10’ x 12’ to 50’ x 250’ Pre-engineered, Pre-assembled, Pre-plumbed, Pre-wired • Minimal site preparation Outperforms all other materials • Resistant to rot, vandalism, fire, blast, and storms Installation in just hours • Available nationwide from a network of Licensed Producers Concessions • Dugouts • Electrical/Mechanical • Hazmat • Maintenance Sheds • Offices • Press Boxes Pump Houses • Restrooms • Locker Rooms • Field Houses • Security Shacks • Shelters • Storage & more!

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www.FrogFurnishings.com | sales@jayhawk.com 54 Parks & Recreation

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WWW.SCOREMASTER.COM SALES@SCOREMASTER.COM 1-888-726-7627 Our goals meet or exceeds ASTM F2056 and ASTM F2673

United States Postal Service Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

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7.

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9.

Publication Title: Parks & Recreation Publication Number: 312215 Filing Date: November 2016 Issue Frequency: Monthly Number of Issues Published Annually: 12 Annual Subscription Price: $30.00 for members; $36.00 for nonmembers Complete Mailing Address of Known Office of Publication (not printer): National Recreation

and Park Association, 22377 Belmont Ridge Road, Ashburn, VA 20148-4501

Complete Mailing Address of Headquarters or General Business Offices for Publisher (not printer):

National Recreation and Park Association, 22377 Belmont Ridge Road, Ashburn, VA 20148-4501 Full Name and Complete Mailing Address of Publisher, Editor, and Managing Editor: > PUBLISHER—Gina Cohen, National Recreation and Park Association,

22377 Belmont Ridge Road, Ashburn, VA 20148-4501

> EDITOR—Samantha Bartram, National Recreation and Park Association,

10.

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12.

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22377 Belmont Ridge Road, Ashburn, VA 20148-4501 > MANAGING EDITOR—Sonia Myrick, National Recreation and Park Association, 22377 Belmont Ridge Road, Ashburn, VA 20148-4501 Owner: National Recreation and Park Association 22377 Belmont Ridge Road, Ashburn, VA 20148-4501 Known Bondholders, Mortgagees, and Other Security Holders: None Tax Status: The purpose, function, and nonprofit status of this organization and the exempt status for federal income tax purposes has not changed during the preceding 12 months.

Publication Title: Parks and Recreation Issue Date of Circulation Data Below: November 2016

15. Extent and Nature of Circulation

a. Total Number of Copies (Net press run) (1) Mailed Outside-County Paid Subscriptions Stated on PS Form 3541 (include paid distribution above nominal rate, advertiser’s proof copies, and exchange copies) b. Paid Circula- (2) Mail In-County Paid Subscriptions Stated on PS Form 3541 (include paid distribution above nominal rate, advertiser’s tion (By Mail proof copies, and exchange copies) and (3) Paid Distribution Outside the Mail Including Sales Through outside Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors, Counter Sales, and Other the Mail) Paid Distribution outside USPS® (4) Paid Distribution by Other Classes of Mail Through the USPS (e.g. First-ClassMail®)

Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months

No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date

15,569 15,116

15,157 14,641

0

0

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380

582

c. Total Paid Distribution (Sum of 15b (1), (2), (3), and (4)) d. Free or (1) Free or Nominal Rate Outside-County Copies includNominal ed on PS Form 3541 Rate (2) Free or Nominal Rate In-County Copies Included on Distribu- PS Form 3541 tion (By Mail (3) Free or Nominal Rate In-County Copies mailed at other classes through the USPS Leg. First-Class Mail and Outside Included on PS Form 3541 the (4) Free or Nominal Rate Distribution Outside the Mail Mail) (Carriers or other means) e. Total Free or Nominal Rate Distribution (Sum of 15d (1), (2), (3), and (4)) f. Total Distribution (Sum of 15c and 15e) g. Copies not Distributed (See instructions to Publishers #4 (page #3)) h. Total (Sum of 15f and 15g) i. Percent Paid (15c divided by 15f times 100) 16. Electronic Copy Circulation a. Paid Electronic Copies b. Total Paid Print Copies (Line 15c) + Paid Electronic Copies (Line 16a) c. Total Print Distribution (Line 15f) + Paid Electronic Copies (Lines 16a) d. Percent Paid (Both Print & Electronic Copies) (16b divided by 16c x100)

15,496 0

15,223 0

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15,541 150

15,223 150

15,691 99%

15,373 99%

0 14,018

0 14,191

14,052

14,191

99%

100%

I certify that 50% of all my distributed copies (electronic and print) are paid above nominal price.

14. Issue Date of Circulation Data Below: November 2016 17. Publication of Statement Ownership. If the publication is a general publication, publication

of this statement is required. Will be printed in the December 2016 issue of this publication.

18. Signature and Title of Editor, Publisher, Business Manager, or Owner: Gina Cohen, Publisher, November 23, 2016 I certify that all information furnished on this form is true and complete. I understand that anyone who furnishes false or misleading information on this form or who omits material or information requested on the form may be subject to criminal sanctions (including fines and imprisonment) and/or civil sanctions (including civil penalties).

AQUATICS Pentair................................................... 25 800.831.7133 www.pentaircommercial.com ATHLETIC/EXERCISE EQUIPMENT Go Ape................................................... 53 415.553.0769 www.goape.com Greenfields Outdoor Fitness.................. 3 888.315.9037 www.greenfieldsfitness.com BUILDINGS/TENTS/SHELTERS Easi-Set Buildings................................. 54 866.252.8210 www.easisetbuildings.com Shade Systems™ Inc................................ 1 800.609.6066 www.shadesystemsinc.com COMMUNICATIONS Basinger Audio Systems....................... 53 877.638.5816 www.portablesound.com GOLFING PRODUCTS/SERVICES Disc Golf Association............................ 53 831.722.6037 www.discgolf.com

PARK PRODUCTS/SERVICES Bright Idea Shops.................................. 53 800.886.8990 www.brightideashops.com Dogipot.................................................. 13 800.364.7681 www.dogipot.com Great American Business Products....... 7 800-790-8896 www.petwasteeliminator.com Jayhawk Plastics Inc............................. 54 913.764.8181 www.jayhawk.com Most Dependable Fountains................ C2 800.552.6331 www.mostdependable.com Pilot Rock®............................................. 23 800.762.5002 www.pilotrock.com PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT Cemer® Playground & Fitness................ 5 +90.232.853.87.04 www.cemer.com.tr Cemrock................................................. 29 520.571.1999 www.cemrock.com Landscape Structures®......................... C3 888.438.6574 www.playlsi.com

Playcore®............................................... C4 877.762.7563 www.playcore.com/inclusive play Themed Concepts®................................. 7 855.724.3270 www.themedconcepts.com RESTROOMS/LOCKER ROOMS Easi-Set Buildings................................. 54 866.252.8210 www.easisetbuildings.com SPORTS EQUIPMENT Scoremaster Goals................................ 54 888.726.7627 www.scoremaster.com Soccer5®USA......................................... 27 305.393.5230 www.soccer5usa.com SURFACING Accella Polyurethane Systems....... 10, 11 888.899.9665 www.accellapolyurethane.com SofSurfaces........................................... 15 800.263.2363 www.sofsurfaces.com

reader service

Request free information from the manufacturers of the products found in this issue.

Mail the completed form to Kip Ongstad at NRPA, 22377 Belmont Ridge Road, Ashburn, VA 20148-4501 or email to kongstad@nrpa.org or Michelle Dellner at mdellner@nrpa.org.

(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 ©2016 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: $36 a year in the U.S.; $46 elsewhere. Single copy price: $4.50. Library rate: $48 a year in the U.S.; $58 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

Passport to Fun! A dazzling display of fireworks helped to launch the Loudoun County (Virginia) Parks, Recreation and Community Services (PRCS) 50th Anniversary celebration on August 13, 2016. This event, filled with music, games and activities organized by each of the agency’s program areas, including community centers, parks, sports, adaptive recreation and senior centers, was the first of more than 30 events that are scheduled through the end of July 2017.

To encourage residents to explore the breadth and depth of the agency’s services, an event “passport” is being used, which also offers them the opportunity to earn a variety of prizes. On each passport, citizens will collect stamps from the agency’s more than 40 locations. According to PRCS Director Steve Torpy, “We have a passport station at every event, so you can either get a stamp for attending each event and/or by taking the passport journey and visiting the various PRCS locations across the county.” This approach seems to be working as Torpy reports, “People have been traveling all over the county to participate and that is exactly what we wanted to see happen.” All completed passports are entered into the grand drawing for a hot air balloon ride.

A number of signature events, such as the Bluemont Fair and Lucketts Fair, as well as a variety of activities and programs, are included in this year-long celebration. In January, in addition to the Martin Luther King Jr. celebration, PRCS will also host the Special Olympics Basketball Tournament, and, at the end of July, the celebration comes to a close with the PONY Nationals Fastpitch Softball Tournament. It draws more than 100 teams from around the country and internationally and is a great economic driver for the county.

“As a department and a cornerstone of the community, we’re trying to reach out to all the different groups of people who live in Loudoun County — the different cultures, interests, ages that we have, and highlight through this [Anniversary Celebration] program the breadth of services we provide,” says Torpy.

— Sonia Myrick, Managing Editor of Parks & Recreation magazine

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Cool off in a big way SkyWays™ Shade Products are perfect for anywhere you need BIG amounts of shade—at the ball field, on the beach, in a parking lot.

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You have diverse needs We have complete solutions PlayCore advances play and recreation through research, programs, and advocacy. We infuse this learning into our complete family of brands to create unique solutions for each community we serve.

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PARKS&RECREATION DECEMBER 2016 ◆ EVENTS & CELEBRATIONS ◆ NRPA PARKS BUILD COMMUNITY WELCOMES TROJAN PARK