Articles
Stone Soup
“Stone Soup” is a European folk story in which hungry strangers, carrying nothing but a cooking pot filled with water and a stone arrive in a town and convince each of the townspeople to share a small amount of their food to make a meal that everyone enjoys. It is a lesson on the value of sharing and the potential synergy borne of collaboration.
Grinding Out The Details
While there are many challenges in developing a public skatepark, a few common pitfalls can be easily avoided. Skating around these snares can help create the most popular recreation facility in town as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Park District Softball
Given the right parameters, softball is a team sport that can be played and enjoyed for a lifetime. Located in the Chicago area, the Naperville Park District has found that offering adults ages 19 to 90+ the opportunity to play the sport they love on a schedule that works for them is a winning combination.
Design A More Inclusive Aquatic Facility
Most people who think about accessibility in aquatic facilities probably consider pool features such as lifts, ramps, and stairs. While aquatic function is the primary purpose of such a facility, they should not overlook the role that supporting facilities play in the overall user experience.
Everybody Into The Pool
Swimming pools are as much a part of summer as the end of school, Popsicles, and bright, sunny days. And with the worst of the pandemic in the rear-view mirror, it’s time for those facilities to welcome back the crowds.
Drowning Prevention
Drowning is a significant health concern within the U.S., and is one of the leading causes of unintentional-injury deaths for people of all ages. Drowning is the third-leading cause of unintentional-injury death for children ages 14 and under, and the second-leading cause of death from all causes for children under 4 years old.
Solving For Vandalism
Many park-maintenance duties are of the standard variety. Repair needs surface after inclement weather, trails degrade from prolonged, heavy use, historic sites require more care with age, and the list goes on.
A Lesson In History
St. Louis County Parks is in the process of moving and reconstructing a significant building to the Historic Village at Faust Park. This year marks the 129th anniversary of Missouri’s oldest-surviving, one-room schoolhouse.
Where The Metals Meet
The 24-acre Michelle and Barack Obama Sports Complex at Rancho Cienega Park fills an important need in South Los Angeles, providing quality public-recreation and fitness amenities for a population of approximately 100,000 people. The complex, which opened in June 2022, is a tribute to the former First Lady and President, who held his first Los Angeles-area campaign rally in the park.
Protecting Parks From Climate Change
Climate change is transforming America’s parks. Warming temperatures increasingly affect plantings, wildlife, and even pest populations, requiring new maintenance regimes and management techniques.
The “Yes” Garden
The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center opened in 1995 (as the National Wildflower Research Center) on a 42-acre site on the southwestern outskirts of Austin, Texas. As the state’s arboretum and botanical garden, its mission is to study, protect, and promote native plants.
A Symbiotic Relationship
To make cities more resilient, park planners and designers need to look beyond the typical stormwater requirements when thinking about public spaces. How can parks solve larger, community-wide stormwater problems while still accommodating recreational needs?
Programming Ideas For The Community, By The Community
When it comes to programming, most communities allow their parks department to set the tone, choosing a level of engagement based on what’s available. But, increasingly, residents aren’t waiting to see what’s on the calendar—they’re stepping in to develop the programs themselves.
Infill Depth Perfection
After nearly six decades on the market, synthetic-turf fields for recreation and athletic facilities are an integral part of being able to schedule and complete games. While the technology has evolved since the Houston Astros played its first season on synthetic turf in 1966, the application remains resource-intensive to install and replace, along with regular maintenance.
Inspect More, Reduce Risk
Inspection requirements for recreation facilities can be fairly extensive. Whether it’s inspecting playgrounds, fire extinguishers, filter changes, fire alarms, trash cans, etc., there is a lot to consider.
A Home For Health And Heritage
Frogtown Community Center in St. Paul, Minn., located on the site of the former Scheffer Recreation Center, is a vibrant hub of cultural inclusivity and wellness-driven activity. While the 1970s center may have brought community together in the past, in the present it needed a ground-up overhaul to connect with the diversity of the current community.
Fundamentals Of Sports Park Design
The Sports Ranch at Sommers Bend, located in Temecula, Calif., opened to the public in February 2022. The city-owned and –operated, 20-acre, $11.8-million park was a turn-key project constructed by the developers of the Sommers Bend master-planned community (Woodside Homes of Southern California and Wingsweep Corporation), part of a larger development agreement with the city that also included roads, trails, and other public improvements.
Not Just Upgrading, But Placemaking
With a prime location in Golden Gate Park, there is no tennis center quite like the Lisa & Douglas Goldman Tennis Center (GTC) in the city and county of San Francisco. Designed by EHDD, with early design input from HGA, the GTC continues the city’s long legacy and tradition of tennis in the park that started in the late-19th century.
Beyond Basic
Over the past decade, parks and recreation departments have been creating playgrounds that extend beyond basic Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements. Playgrounds are expected to meet standards regarding ramps and surfacing, but now communities around the country have begun to build play environments that are truly inclusive for people of all ages and abilities.
The 411 On 3x3
3x3 basketball might have been new to the Olympics (where the American women’s team won the gold medal), but it wasn’t new to anyone in the park and rec world, or those familiar with basketball in urban areas. In fact, the discipline—which has its roots in the urban game—has long been a staple of recreational play.