Annual Progress Report 2022
Boulder Parks and Recreation
Letter from the Director
I am so honored to share with you Boulder Parks and Recreation’s 2022 Progress Report. It was a remarkable year for the department. As we look back, we check that the work we’ve done is in line with the goals of our 2022 Parks and Recreation Master Plan. We look at the data for many metrics related to those goals to see the progress for that work. How did we do? Thanks for reading our progress report that shows how we did and what made it special for our team and for our community.
For our team, 2022 saw staffing levels and funding increase. This translated to more resources to fulfill our mission to promote the health and well-being of the entire community. From experts in forestry to yoga to soil to ecology to water chemistry, our employees are one of the reasons Boulder has such an incredible parks and recreation system. While we continue to be challenged by the nationwide labor shortage, cost escalation, and supply chain issues, the future is looking up as we begin 2023.
For the community, a key highlight is the unanimous acceptance of the updated Parks and Recreation Plan (aka “Master Plan”) . We heard from people across the community about what they want from us, and those ideas have been captured in the plan. The unanimous support of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, Planning Board and City Council means how we captured those ideas and plan to support them were spot on. The plan will now guide our decisions and investments for the next five years. Already, we have shifted funding to better maintain our courts, athletic fields and other amenities across the system based on what we heard.
2022 also included many opportunities to partner with agencies who share our community goals. The Colorado Chautauqua Association is our partner in operating this amazing, award-winning site. Thanks to your votes, Colorado Chautauqua was crowned the Best Place in Local Government (Historic category) by the Engaging Local Government Leaders (ELGL) network .
When we work with our philanthropic partner, the PLAY Boulder Foundation , we leverage your tax dollars and giving to make Boulder’s greenspaces even better and programs more accessible. From duck races at Scott Carpenter Pool to providing PLAYpasses for our community to helping take care of Boulder’s urban canopy, we couldn’t be successful in our mission without PLAY Boulder.
And we can’t make the services we provide a reality without you. The community’s support is evidenced in our incredible volunteer program, where Boulderites gave over 10,000 hours of their time in our parks. We also need the community to help us hire over 300 seasonal employees to support summer fun. Our community members breathe life into the recreation centers, pools, Reservoir, and parks maintenance every year. We thank you for that ongoing partnership!
Last time we checked, over 95% of Boulderites said we are doing a good or excellent job operating your parks and recreation system. In 2023, we will focus on maintaining that support with improvements to how we maintain our parks, how we offer and charge for programs, and how we ensure the system is strong for years to come.
Read on to learn about key accomplishments and how we plan to take care of the community’s hearts, bodies, and souls in 2023 and beyond.
Everyday Excellence
Building Community
We added many recreation classes for our community. Fun classes like Pilates Mat and Spin promote provide physical activity and opportunities for neighbors to connect at their local recreation center.
Our Forestry team planted 378 trees last year, including these in Columbia Cemetery with students from Flatirons Elementary School. Being in nature improves mental health and planting trees helps mitigate climate change. Read more about the State of the Urban Forest in our report and how our urban canopy is at a tipping point.
By investing in our gymnastics programming, we have been able to exceed 2019 enrollment levels and put smiles on kids’ faces!
Our 12,000 square foot gymnastics facility at North Boulder Recreation Center is one of the largest and best equipped in the region to help kids, teens, and adults build strength, flexibility and friendships.
A new HVAC system was installed at North Boulder Recreation Center.
Taking care of what we have is one of the community’s top priorities, and key investments like this new system ensure the building can help us achieve our mission.
Pool leaks at South Boulder Recreation Center presented the opportunity to repair the facility and invest in it for the long-term.
We fixed pool leaks, replaced the gymnasium floor with a more resilient surface, and reimagined two underutilized spaces to now be a community lounge and a ninja studio.
In South Boulder Recreation Center, when the racquetball court was damaged by water, it was an opportunity to create something new.
The ninja studio was born! It’s a space for community members of all ages to have fun, get physical, and safely compete against their peers.
Flatirons Golf Course had a record year of 47,275 rounds of golf and $2M in revenue, poising it for great success as we invest in a new golf facility.
The renovation of Scott Carpenter Playground replaced equipment that was past its lifecycle and with new features thanks to input from the community.
When playgrounds are replaced, maintenance costs go down and visitation goes up – a win-win for the community!
We plant over 15,000 tulips along Pearl Street Mall every Fall to beautify the space and positively impact our community. In the Spring, we partner with the Downtown Boulder Partnership to distribute tulip bulbs to community members via downtown businesses.
Partnerships are a key BPR strategy in achieving community goals.
From a field of 32 nationwide locations, voters crowned Colorado Chautauqua with the Engaging Local Government Leaders’ Knope Award as the Best Place in Local Government (Historic category).
The Colorado Chautauqua Association is our partner in operating this amazing, award-winning site.
In Tom Watson park’s playground, a volunteer pulls weeds to keep our playgrounds beautiful and safe for our community.
Our volunteers are essential as we face the challenges of labor shortages and cost increases.
This past summer, Colorado Parks and Wildlife detected the presence of Eurasian watermilfoil, an invasive plant, in the Boulder Reservoir. The plant is not harmful to public health and at its current growth levels, there are no impacts to recreation use at the Reservoir or its use as drinking water.
The partnership with CPW has helped us with this aquatic nuisance species now and in the future.
To celebrate the end of the Kidz Kamp, a summer-long camp, the kids enjoyed a foam party!
Our amazing camp staff are dedicated to bringing the fun while fostering physical activity and creativity, which are critical for positive childhood development.
Learning about the world around them is crucial for fostering young minds.
Campers visit the Growing Gardens facility to explore the wonders of plants, learn about nutrient life cycles, investigate the world of insects, and more!
Our EXPAND program helps people of all abilities enjoy life. We use recreation and leisure activities to help our participants learn and practice social skills and communication, physical fitness, Independence and self-confidence, and to build community.
This year included many activities from camps to sports to the Polar Plunge to the new family reunion event!
Our restarted Urban Ranger program helps create safe and welcoming parks and facilities.
The rangers provide education, help with non-emergency situations, and are a friendly face to help our community feel safely connected.
Our personal trainers create results-driven programs to help community members achieve their health and fitness goals.
We provide a personal touch for those wanting this service in our recreation centers.
BPR seasonal employees make the fun, memories, laughs, and more for our community!
New this year is a focus on outreach to hire a diverse employee base.
Our 2023 to-do list
When it comes to where you live, there are key pieces to making it a strong home: maintenance, a comfortable space, and special people. Our system of parks and recreation facilities, services, and people is the same.
In 2023, we’ll be building up our community by investing in spaces in a strategic, long-term method, whether it’s through day-to-day maintenance or investing in the upkeep of something we already have. We call it “taking care of what we have.” We’ll be
- building a new facility at Flatirons Golf Course to replace the one destroyed in the 2013 flood;
- renovating and enhancing the play area, picnic shelter, and fitness area at North Boulder Park;
- kicking off the Civic Area Phase 2 project (including Central Park, 13th Street, Arboretum Path and East Book End);
- completing a plan for how we support the growth in racket sports;
- developing the park on Violet, and
- looking at services we provide and the fees we charge so we offer what's most important to our community and balance our budget
Our community is essential to bringing our facilities and programs to life every year, so we’ll be hiring over 300 community members to fill positions like lifeguard, camp counselors, parks maintenance, and more this summer.
In addition, we will continue our focus on serving our community with equity in mind. This includes:
- planting trees in underserved communities and improve our overall urban tree canopy
- seeking additional funding to increase EXPAND and YSI programming, and continuing to provide financial aid to reduce financial barriers for low-income families
- supporting access to recreation programming by working closely with the PLAY Boulder Foundation.
We want everyone to enjoy what we have to offer!
We have quite a few items on our 2023 to-do list! We’re excited that you’ll be with us as we tackle them together.
Acknowledgments
Photos and iconography from City of Boulder. Resources and vectors sourced from Vecteezy and Adobe Stock.