BY SUSAN THACKER
sthacker@gbtribune.com
A new study shows money spent on parks and recreation program offers substantial economic benefits — $1.70 for every $1 invested.
Diann Henderson, executive director of the Great Bend Recreation Commission, shared the highlights of the study conducted by Jayhawk Consulting, University of Kansas School of Business. Among other things, Henderson told her board of directors Monday, the study shows 73 percent of the population uses parks and recreation services at least once per week. More than half of those people cited lower cost as a factor when considering public recreation and parks as a choice.
Kansans ranked parks and recreation fifth on a list of the most important city services, after education, hospitals, fire protection and street maintenance. Services that ranked lower in importance were corrections (police), housing/community development, libraries, transportation, waste removal and community celebrations.
The reasons for recreation and parks use were: exercise, general health, fun, stress relief, reduced cost, free time and social/networking. "That’s something we’ve known for years, but now we have the data to back it up," she said. The study was conducted by a six-person team representing Jayhawk Consulting, an outreach program primarily made up of MBA students and coordinated through the KU School of Business.
The primary parks and recreation activities were: parks and trails, 25 percent; pools/aquatics, 18 percent; youth sports, 16 percent; classes and events, 14 percent; adult sports, 12 percent; golf courses, 8 percent; and nature centers, 7 percent.
The study also revealed that real estate values are consistently higher in areas next to or near local parks.
During Monday’s GBRC Board meeting, Henderson was awarded a 2.5 percent pay increase and her contract was extended by two years, to June 30, 2016.
Soccer walls
Board members also viewed the indoor soccer walls at the City Auditorium and at the GBRC Activity Center. The auditorium has had soccer walls for some time, but they didn’t protect the stage at the west end of the gym. In the past, the solution was to close the stage curtains, but now the commission has added netting that protects the stage without closing the curtains. This eliminates a hidden area and also make it easier to retrieve balls that go out of the playing field.
Enrollment in youth soccer programs is growing, so the new Activity Center is being used for teaching soccer to children as young as kindergarten. Indoor soccer walls were also needed there, although they didn’t have to be as tall or as strong as those at the auditorium. GBRC Sports Coordinator Chris Umphres built walls for the new facilities, using PVC pipes and plastic lattice. Materials cost about $600, while the retail cost for a similar product could have been around $3,900, Umphres estimated.
Other activities
Garet Fitzpatrick, coordinator of leisure activities, said Levi Keenan won the Longest Tail Feather Contest, turning in a pheasant tail feather that measured 23 5/8 inches long. Fitzpatrick said entries are still being accepted in the Snow Sculpture Contest, so if anyone built a snow sculpture last week and saved a photo, that person is invited to contact the GBRC office.
Program Coordinator Linda Marqueling joined Fitzpatrick on Monday in presenting a fitness challenge to employees of Great Bend Unified School District 428, and said the 10th Walk Kansas program, offered in conjunction with Barton County Extension, will start next month. Marqueling also said the S.T.E.P.S. exercise program, which is offered free of charge to people 60 years of age and older, continues to be popular and grant funding has been secured to keep it going at least one more year.
