FEA teamed up with StudioCPG to provide an assessment of the City of Louisville Parks, Recreation, and Open Space department. The department needed an assessment of operations and the development of a General Maintenance and Management Plan.
The City’s parks and recreation system is continually cited by residents as one of its most cherished assets. The system includes a range of amenities including over 300 acres of parkland, playgrounds, athletic fields, recreation amenities including an outdoor swimming pool and splash pad, cemetery, 18-hole golf course, and civic facilities. The City initiated the Maintenance and Management Plan to ensure that parks and recreation assets are thoughtfully maintained and managed and that funding allocations meet needs now and into the future.
“The City of Louisville Parks, Recreation & Open Space Department enjoyed working with FEA as a component of our General Parks Maintenance & Management Plan development process. The final product met our expectations, and the report is a great resource for our staff, City leadership and residents.”
–Adam Blackmore, Director, Parks, Recreation & Open Space
The scope included an analysis of the Department’s maintenance and operating budget, covering routine maintenance for turf cultural practices; irrigation scheduling and maintenance; athletic field maintenance; snow removal; installing annual flowers; pruning; weed management; trash removal; cemetery operations; general cleaning; safety audits; and repairs to playgrounds, trails, and facilities.
We assessed park maintenance operations which included stakeholder interviews and an evaluation of the City’s current levels of service using NRPA performance standards. Our recommendations included the development of a maintenance program that includes strategic planning, process improvement, and continual measurement and monitoring. In addition, we recommended alignment to the NRPA’s Commission for Accreditation of Park and Recreation Agencies (CAPRA) standard, to enable the Department to build a program that is rooted in strategic alignment, repeatable and defendable processes, and focused on continual improvement.
