Our Mission...
| Parks
and Recreation Department staff builds healthy communities through parks,
programs, and partnerships. |
We Value--
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- Inclusion and diversity
- Teamwork
- Commitment to employees and community through excellence and ethical actions
- Quality work and great customer service
- A healthy environment; land and resources
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Annual
Operating Budget/Staffing:
For the fiscal year beginning July 1,
2008, $98,822,314 general fund operating budget.*
Parks
and Recreation Department Facilities*
Acres of Deserts Parks/Preserves: 31,578
Acres
of Developed City Parks: 4,839
Acres
of street landscape/median maintained by Parks staff: 1,191
Number
of:
City
Parks: 220
Playgrounds: 133
Basketball courts: 130
Golf
Courses: 8 (five championship, 3 nine-hole)
Pools:
29
Neighborhood/Recreation/Teen
centers: 20
Community/Full Service
Centers: 18
Museums,
arts, cultural facilities: 6
Special
use/special interest facilities: 8 (includes Arizona Horse
Lovers Park, Telephone Pioneers Park, Rio Salado Habitat Restoration
Project, Mountain View and Phoenix tennis centers)
Interactive Phoenix Parks Map
Street Landscape Standards (7.mb pdf)
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History of the Phoenix Park System |
In the early 1900s, the City of Phoenix had just three parks, only one more than was set aside in the original town site in 1871. The key to subsequent progress in the development of parks and recreational facilities in Phoenix has been the interest and active support of Phoenix residents. Phoenicians have approved ten major bond issues to support Parks and Recreation, and in 1999 voters approved the Phoenix Parks and Preserve Initiative tax for the development of parks and recreational facilities.
In the early 1900’s the most popular recreation site in Phoenix was Eastlake Park, which featured a lake for boating, a baseball diamond and stadium, a swimming pool, and picnic and game areas. Located at 16th Street and Jefferson, the park was easily accessible by street car. Though Eastlake was the most popular, it was not the city’s first park. The Carnegie Library provided a park setting in 1908. Verde Park followed in 1909; Central Park in 1910 and then Eastlake in 1914.
In 1934, Encanto Park was proposed for development. Located in what is now the heart of central Phoenix, the proposal was criticized at the time because the location was considered too remote. Critics argued that the money would be better utilized for facilities improvements in more central areas. In the 1930s, bond funds were used to add other parks sites including Coronado, Grant, University and Pueblo Grande Museum. and South Mountain Park/Preserve.
In 1920, city leaders’ moved to preserve what would become one of the city’s signature desert areas – South Mountain Park/Preserve. Proponents of the acquisition saw the area as the last prime recreation site for picnicking, horseback riding and hiking near the city. This desert mountain region, located just over seven miles south of the city limits, was known at the time as the Salt River Mountains and included the Gila-Guadalupe and Ma Ha Tuak ranges, the highest peak in the range was Mount Suppoa at 2,690 feet. With the help of Senator Carl Hayden, community leaders encouraged President Coolidge to sell 13,000 acres to the City for $17,000. In 1925, the first patent for South Mountain Park was secured by presidential decree. South Mountain Park, now over 16,000 acres, is the largest municipal park in the United States and is considered by policy a part of the Phoenix Mountain Preserve System. Currently the Phoenix Mountain Preserve spans 37,000 acres and includes North Mountain, Camelback Mountain, Piestewa Peak and the Phoenix Sonoran Preserve. The Parks and Recreation Department plans to acquire additional acreage in the future.
In 1933, the first supervised recreation program was inaugurated on city school playgrounds. Parks and Recreation Board members are appointed by the City Council to five year rotating terms. In 1933, the City Charter was amended to form the Parks, Playground and Recreation Board. This amendment became effective on February 27, 1934. The board assumed the maintenance of city parks from the Streets Department, and at the same time, the voters approved a $1.5 million bond program. In 1933, the Parks and Recreation Board was semi autonomous with far reaching powers, until November 1971 when the City Charter was amended to move many of the Parks Board’s administrative functions including the appointment of the Director of Parks and Recreation to the city council. The City Charter grants the Parks and Recreation Board the duty and power to advise the council on recreational needs and recommend acquisition, location and nature of facilities to meet those needs. The Board also establishes operating policies for recreational facilities and services.
In 1957, a $4.8 million park bond issue was approved to purchase land for the Maryvale Golf Course, seven swimming pools, paving of roads in South Mountain Park and the development of Papago Park including the golf course. In 1961, another bond was issued providing $6.1 million to acquire 400 acres of land for future park sites and complete many park projects throughout the city.
In 1968, and again in 1986, the Parks and Recreation Department was awarded the Gold Medal Award for the best program in the nation among cities with populations over 250,000 by the Sports Foundation Inc., a non profit organization founded to expand interest and participation in all sports and sport activities. |
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Dale Larsen
Acting Director |
Assistant Director
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Jim Burke
Assistant Director
(602)262-4903
james.burke@phoenix.gov
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Central Division
Ken Vonderscher
Deputy Director
(602)262-4545
ken.vonderscher@phoenix.gov
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Parks Development &
Planning Division
Karen Williams
Deputy Director
(602) 534-1870
karen.wiliams@phoenix.gov
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Natural Resources Division
Kathi Reichert
Deputy Director
(602) 495-5486
kathryn.reichert@phoenix.gov
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South
Division
Rene Vera
Deputy Director
(602) 534-2137
rene.vera@phoenix.gov
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Management Services Division
Inger Erickson
Deputy Director
(602) 262-4987
inger.erickson@phoenix.gov
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Specialized Maintenance and Aquatics,
Sports & Turf
Management Division
Rob Harman
Deputy Director
(602) 602-262-5057
rob.harman@phoenix.gov
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The Phoenix Parks and Recreation Board |
| The Phoenix Parks and Recreation Board holds public meetings once
a month, on the fourth Thursday, 5 p.m. at various locations
city wide. Meeting agendas are posted
online seven days prior to each month's meeting.
The following are the remaining meeting dates for 2008.
Call 602 495-5215 for more information. |
2009 |
Thurs., March 26 @
5 p.m. |
Thurs., July 23 @ 5p.m. (break)
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Thurs., April 23 @
5 p.m. |
August 27 (break)
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Thurs., May 28 @
5 p.m. |
Thurs., Sept. 24 @ 5p.m. |
Thurs., June 25 @
5 p.m. |
Thurs., Oct. 22 @
5 p.m. |
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Thurs., Nov. 19 @
5 p.m. |
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Dec. 17(if needed) |
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The Parks and Recreation
Board consist of eight members, including the Parks and Recreation
Director who serves as a non-voting, ex-officio member. The remaining
members are appointed by the City Council for 5-year terms. A Youth
Advisor also serves on the Board as a non-voting member.
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Parks
& Recreation Board Members |
| Laura Bell, Board
Member |
Diana Brooks, Chair |
Jan Hancock, Board Member |
Roger A. Peck, Board Member |
Delia Ortega-Nowakowski, Board Member |
| Valerie Churchwell,
Board Member |
Dale Larsen, Acting Director |
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The Parks Board's
duties and powers include:
Establishing operating policies for recreational facilities and
services within and with outside the City as the developing public
recreation needs may require.
 Entering into contracts to grant concessions, licenses and permits
for the use of City recreational facilities and
to contract with others for the use of recreational facilities
needed by the City.
Establishing schedules of charges for miscellaneous recreational
facilities and to advise the City Council on fees to be set by
Council on golf courses, tennis centers and swimming pools.
Advising the Council concerning recreational needs and recommended
acquisition, location, and nature of facilities to meet said needs.
Designating areas in each park and the mountain preserves as open
or closed to public use. All designations shall be based on the
protection of the natural, cultural, historical and other resources
of the parks and mountain preserves.
Created by authority
of Resolution Ord. G-1165, 03-28-1972
Amendedby Resolution Ord. G-1574, 07-01-1975.For complete details
on the Phoenix Parks and Recreation Board, go to the
Phoenix
City Code online and enter Parks Board into the
search window. *figure does not include
department-owned land not yet developed for public use. Including
land purchased for the future Sonoran Preserve, the total preserve/desert
park acreage is 31,276.
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