September 2011 - Parks & Recreation - 51

O'Rourke recently held a Yappy Hour at a dog
park, bringing in a band and selling food and beverages. They cleared $8,000 in a single evening.
Charleston adjusts its pricing every year " to remain within the market, " O' Rourke explains. The
city has a pass program that allows use of all of
its facilities. " I strongly believe that we should not
compete with private facilities-and we don't have
to. There are so many things that private operators
can't do that we can-like taking a walk in a 2,000acre park. "
Denver recently announced the introduction of
tiered pricing for the city's many recreation centers. Larger and better equipped " regional " centers
will charge more for annual passes than the smaller
" neighborhood " centers and it will cost even less for
the smaller " local " centers.
" We realized people used the closest center no
matter how big it was, so those people were subsidizing the folks using the larger facilities, " Erickson
says. " However, the larger centers are open more
days than the others and on days when the smaller
centers are closed any member can use the larger
center. Also, members of smaller centers can pay a
nominal daily fee to use a larger one. "

also seeks to promote the parks-including a social media effort that includes an
active YouTube program.
" We also show up at every major city
event to give out ﬂyers and tell people
what we're doing, " Ginsburg says.
As a result, and despite all the cuts,
recreational programming increased by
25 percent last year.
Noting that his department, like its
counterparts in other cities, receives less
than 2 percent of the municipal budget,
Ginsburg says. " We have done a remarkable job maintaining our parks through
generating revenues. " Among recent innovations are a zipline over the financial
district, licensing bike rental vendors, and
increased presence of mobile food trucks.
A three-day summer music festival
called Outside Lands attracted 60,000
people for each of its three days this
year-generating tens of millions of dollars for the city in economic activity and
a direct $1.4 million for the parks.

There are differences in approach to multi-visit
or calendar-based passes. Some rely on them and
others simply do not use them. Denver, as part of its
efforts to close its budget gap, launched automatic
monthly payment withdrawal, family memberships,
young adult memberships, and 15- and 30-visit
punch passes.
In Boston, passes are only for specific facilities,
such as a golf course.
In Lee's Summit, the goal is to keep pricing simple-thus no family memberships. " We have found
that the more price points you have, the more confused patrons get, " Lovell says. " The family pass has
always been a big topic. We have trouble for one
thing deciding what a family is anymore. It could be
grandparents or people in alternative lifestyles.
" Is it fair for a single person or couple to subsidize folks who have three or four kids? " Lovell asks.
" Or is it better that everybody gets the lowest price
we can give? "
Nor are there senior discounts because, Lovell
says, " It always comes back to giving the best price.
" We look closely at where people are coming from,
what choices they have in other facilities, like a 24-hour
fitness club or a Y, " Lovell continues. " We look at the

" That will pay for 20 gardeners, " Ginsburg says, adding his favorite rule of
thumb: " Every dollar generated in revenues is a dollar we can provide in
services. "
Over the last two years, the department has increased revenues by almost
$5 million-helping to preserve many
jobs and programs. " We are also working
hard to generate philanthropic support of
operations, " Ginsburg says. One recent
$150,000 grant kept a recreation center
open an extra day each week.
" In fact, the best part of all this, " he
says, " is that through philanthropic efforts we increased our scholarship levels
from $212,000 to more than $500,000 in
one year.
" We don't deny anybody use of our
system, " Ginsburg explains. " We do
screen in ways similar to reduced and free
lunch programs. "
Meanwhile, Ginsburg, continues battling not only budget cuts but
www.NRPA .ORG

Generally
speaking,
increasing
participation
is more
revenue
positive
than
increasing
fees.
-bill beckner, nRPa
Manager
of Research

the parks-should-be-free groups. In one
major controversy, his department introduced an admission fee to the San Francisco Botanical Garden for non-residents.
Opponents saw this as the first step toward charging residents, but Ginsburg
says it was the only way to support a facility that needs 11 gardeners on 50 acres.
The fee held.
" The overwhelming majority of San
Franciscans want clean, fun, and safe
parks and we are providing those, " he
says. " We are not privatizing parks, "
In a recent op-ed column in the San
Francisco Chronicle, Ginsburg wrote,
" More than 95 percent of the city's park
system can be accessed without ever taking out a wallet....Our parks deserve more
public investment.
" But until that happens, perhaps this
ideological battle against public-private
partnerships is one this city and our park
system cannot afford to indulge. "
-harvey Chipkin
SEPTEMBER 2011

Parks & Recreation

September 2011 - Parks & Recreation

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