Articles
More Than Words On Paper
This past fall, the National Alliance for Youth Sports had the opportunity to present an educational session at several industry conferences. The title of the session was “Compliance in Youth Sports—Setting Standards and Enforcing Requirements.” For those unable to attend, here’s a snapshot.
Green Cleaning With Gusto
The past two years have been tough for park and recreations centers around the country. Numerous facilities were closed for months due to the pandemic.
Take The Time
Imagine you’ve made a commitment to complete a job by a certain date. You have great equipment and skilled, trained technicians. But, when the employee gets to the job site, the equipment fails. This is a frustrating, stressful, and expensive event that has likely occurred for countless maintenance managers.
Managing Routine Maintenance
Among many reasons, park maintenance is important to ensure the safety of public facilities, protect investments in public lands, and position parks as a source of pride for local communities. But parks departments often have to juggle preventative work with other concerns, including emergencies, staffing shortages, and the addition of new parks or other construction projects.
Creating Ownership
Before a community-center project begins, the most important foundational effort is to develop trust among residents. This can be very easy or more challenging depending on the nuances of the particular community and its history.
Cleaning Park And Recreation Facilities
It’s been really quiet for more than a year, but thankfully, it appears that we are inching our way out of the pandemic.
A Relaxed, Unpretentious Attitude
In an area of the city rich with history, Austin’s Montopolis neighborhood is taking a step into the future—while carrying on the traditions of the past—with the new Montopolis Recreation and Community Center.
Journey To The Hilltop
The Hilltop at Eagle Pointe is a trendsetting, active-adult facility designed to accommodate Mont Belvieu, Texas, residents 55 years and older. The 12,240-square-foot center has many amenities and an increased number of program offerings.
Draw A Crowd
Parks and recreation projects add value to a community’s quality of life and make the area more attractive to new business and industry. Constructing top-notch, multi-purpose athletic facilities that can attract large tournaments also puts dollars back into the community in the form of full hotel rooms and restaurant seats.
A Challenging But Abundant Resource
What can be done about a building resource growing abundantly in a region but is not being used? When creating the Cottonwood Canyon Experience Center, part of the Cottonwood Canyon State Park in Eastern Oregon, designers felt a need to ask this question.
Integrating Sustainable Thinking Into Conceptual Design
Located on a 160-acre site of forest, marsh, and restored prairie in St. Louis Park, Minn., the new Westwood Hills Nature Center, designed by HGA, includes indoor and outdoor spaces and programming for all ages and abilities.
Don’t Turn A Blind Eye
“Is there anyone else I can bring this concern to?” asked a parent who reached out to us at National Alliance of Youth Sports (NAYS) after attempts to resolve issues through the local team, the team’s regional conference operator, and local parks and recreation department failed.
Right On Target
Located at the Jack A. Claes Pavilion in Elk Grove, Ill., the Pavilion Aquatics Center (PAC) is a facility of the Elk Grove Park District. From April 2013 to February 2014, the PAC underwent a $9-million renovation
Don’t Dog The Design
With more pet owners looking for activities to do with their entire family (Fido included), the staff from the Fairfield Parks and Recreation Department in Ohio began a quest to offer an all-inclusive and fun park experience.
Endless Possibilities
The initial vision for Rustad Recreation Center began in 2011 as the West Fargo Park District in North Dakota became aware of the community’s rapid growth and the need for indoor recreational space.
Know Before You Gotta Go
Park and recreation facilities, anxious to get their centers open and operating—safely—may be interested in an article published in The Washington Post in May 2020.
A Place To Gather
Communities stake their reputation on the amenities they offer, to both visitors and residents. The more activity creating buzz around a community, the more desirable a place it is in which to live or visit. As a
Helpful Hints
Campground owners and managers … here’s a little secret. Campground guests talk to each other--about your facilities. Yes, while you are in the office, the people in Site #26 are chatting with the nice couple in
Rebuilding Boston
Boston has a long tradition of re-using historic structuresСconverting churches into housing, fire stations into theaters, woolen-industry warehouses into artist spaces, and many more.