July 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 22

Member to Member
Colorado Springs' Comeback
By Karen Palus, CPRP, CYSA

C

olorado Springs, Colorado made national headlines and was featured
on Public Radio International's " This American Life " in 2012 as a striking example of a community struggling to balance ideological values of
smaller government and low taxes with the hard reality of discontinuing
basic services. Colorado Springs became infamous for locking public restrooms,
shutting down public pools and recreation centers, and letting the park grass die
from lack of water.

Colorado Springs' is a comeback story, from the shutdown of parks and
services to being identified as a top-five
most desirable city to live in by US News
and World Report and home to Garden of
the Gods Park, named the No. 1 park in
the country by TripAdvisor. It is now a
community with an exciting plan for the
future and supporters to help make this
renaissance a reality.
During the downturn in the economy, the Colorado Springs Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Depart-

ment experimented with a variety of
approaches to manage a one-year, 80
percent reduction in its budget. Since
then, the department has regained
some funding and is learning from
its experimentation with contracting services, nonprofit partnerships,
special districts, utilizing volunteers
and " friends groups, " fundraising and
more. The Colorado Springs experience provides an excellent example of
learning from challenges and creating
new opportunities. A number of spe-

Volunteers work at Garden
of the Gods Park.

20	 Parks & Recreation

| J U LY 2 0 1 6 | W W W. PA R K S A N D R E C R E AT I O N . O R G

cific areas highlight how the Colorado
Springs Parks Department has evolved
to meet the needs of the community in
an effective, creative manner.
Volunteers
The parks department has a long history
of working with an active and engaged
community of more than 5,000 volunteers who assist with programs and stewardship activities. Their combined efforts
resulted in more than 158,000 volunteer
hours in 2015, an 8 percent increase from
2014. Additionally, many of the large
regional parks and cultural sites have
friends groups that assist staff with event
coordination, programs, stewardship
activities and fundraising. These friends
groups became caretakers of their respective sites during the department's
years of reduced staffing and funding.
Over time, even though parks department funding has increased, the passion
and commitment of Colorado Springs
volunteers continues, allowing newly regained resources to go even further.
Sustainable Design
The department's design and development group has become even more focused on sustainable maintenance operations to ensure available resources
are utilized as effectively and efficiently as possible. An excellent example is
John Venezia Park, a new community
park currently under construction -
the first in the past 10 years. Of its 30
developed acres, less than 2.5 acres are
irrigated turf, which significantly reduces typical maintenance needs. Three fullsize soccer fields outfitted with artificial
turf will create a year-round playing surface adaptable to a wide range of sports



July 2016 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of July 2016 - Parks & Recreation

July 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 1
July 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 2
July 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 3
July 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 4
July 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 5
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