The Young Professional 1 - Arizona Parks and Recreation Association

AGENCY HIGHLIGHTFACILITIESEast Recreation CenterSkate ParkNeighborhood ParkThe Purpose of the EastRecreation Center is to offer:Simple, Sincere, SpontaneousService.Simple: Our services are welldesigned,but not fussy.Sincere: Our words andactions are honest and caring.Spontaneous: Our dailyroutine allows for “unplanned”fun to happen.LOCATIONCity Hall – Room 105207 Lafayette StreetWinona, Minnesota 55987CONTACT507.457.8258Winona Minnesotaby Julie FassbenderIn 2009, the City of Winona’s East Recreation Center playground madethe capital improvement list, which is an annual funding source within theCity of Winona that provides funding for items such as roofs, remodeling,major maintenance projects and in our case, park improvements . Withfifty thousand dollars allocated to replace an aging play structure, the planseemed to be set; take out the dated play structure, choose a replacementfrom one of the play structure manufacturers and move on. But it wasn’tquite that simple. Lydia, a Recreation Coordinator for the Parks & RecreationDepartment, was determined to do more than simply take out a playstructure and put one back in. In a presentation prepared for the director(s)of the department, she said “Our mission is not ‘Enhancing communitythrough people, playgrounds, and programs. It is ‘Enhancing communitythrough people, parks, and programs”. In her effort to do more to meetthe mission of the department she discovered Project for Public Spaces, anonprofit organization which seeks “to help people create and sustain publicspaces that build stronger communities” as well as expand on the efforts ofWilliam H. Whyte. The core of Whyte’s work include work on the study ofhuman behavior in urban settings. “Whyte wrote that the social life in publicspaces contributes fundamentally to the quality of life of individuals andsociety. He suggested that we have a moral responsibility to create physicalplaces that facilitate civic engagement and community interaction.” (pps.org)After collecting enough data which gave us direction in theory and inpractice, we concluded that a successful park should meet the following threecriteria: 1) enhance community life 2) support well-executed, uncluttereddesign 3) echo the latest perspectives on play. With the criteria in place,the transition from playground replacement to a park, a public space, andan opportunity to build community began. The planning continued withreading, researching, and simply searching for the right things to do withthis space. We examined books, such as American Playgrounds, RevitalizingCommunity Space by Susan G. Soloman, Better Together by Robert D.Putman, professional recreation industry reading, in the National Recreationand Parks Magazine, and searches on the internet specifically with in theProject for Public Spaces (pps.org) spurred ideas that spoke to the vision andideas of this public space. Through conversation with stakeholders, users,Page 25 | The Young Professional