The FY 2020 budget appropriated funding for the Parks, Recreation, and Open Spaces Master Plan. On April 13, 2021, the City Council approved a Professional Services Agreement with Halff Associates, Inc., for the creation of the Parks, Recreation, and Open Spaces Master Plan. The master plan is a comprehensive, long-range strategy for the creation, optimization, and maintenance of a community’s assets. It doesn’t focus on one particular park, but instead offers a bird’s-eye view of a community’s parks and recreation landscape, both today and beyond. It examines the parks and recreation assets’ ability to meet the needs of the community, and outlines steps for closing the gap between current capabilities and those needs. The vision of this plan is to help the Parks and Recreation Department provide a high-quality park system that has achieved a balance between preserving ecological function, while enhancing the City’s built environment with beautiful urban green spaces that enrich the lives of its citizens and visitors alike. In an effort to gather as much citizen input as possible, the Parks and Recreation Department, along with the assistance of Halff and Associates, Inc., organized and facilitated numerous open house and community meetings. In addition, a website was constructed specifically for the Master Plan, which provided citizens with information regarding the Plan, as well as six separate online surveys which were available in both English and Spanish. Paper versions were also available. A total of 5,519 surveys were completed over the course of 2 months. These surveys covered the topics of Community Needs, Planning and Development, Aquatics, Indoor Recreation, Sports and Athletics, and Golf. This citizen-driven plan was approved by the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board on Monday, October 24, 2022. The plan will enhance the Department’s chances of being awarded grants through the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, as well as allowing the Department to begin its journey toward the National Recreation and Park Association’s Commission for Accreditation of Park and Recreation Agencies (CAPRA). A copy of the full-version of the Master Plan document is available in the City Secretary’s Office. A digital version of the Executive Summary, as well as the full-version of the Master Plan, is available on the Parks and Recreation website at www.playlubbock.com. |