Annual Report Where Fun Comes Naturally! (314) 615-4FUN

Transcription

1 Annual Report 2013 Where Fun Comes Naturally! (314) 615-4FUN

2 Our Mission... St. Louis County Parks and Recreation Department s mission is to provide high quality parks, facilities, and recreation services that enhance residents lives through responsible and effective management of resources. 2

3 Message from the Director... Saint Louis County Parks are of high leisure value to citizens, attract thousands of visitors to our community, increase property values and encourage healthy lifestyles. With the trend toward families staying closer to home and staycations, St. Louis County s parks, shelters, recreation centers and athletic fields are in high demand and remain busy yearround. We believe that St. Louis County Parks and the amenities we offer contribute greatly to the overall quality of life in our community. This report will highlight events, educational programs, our facilities, completed projects and our plans for next year. As you read about 2013, you will find examples of how our staff and volunteers continue to look for ways to improve our programs and facilities and more efficient ways to accomplish our tasks and responsibilities. We have a number of exciting projects on the horizon and are looking forward to what 2014 brings. We will continue to live out our mission to provide our community with the best parks and recreation sites, facilities and service. Thank you for your continued support and encouragement over the past year. As always, we welcome your feedback, questions and suggestions. Thomas M. Ott Acting Director, Saint Louis County Parks & Recreation (314) TOtt@stlouisco.com Parks Department Management: Tom Ott Acting Director Anne Klein Director of Sustainability/ Assistant Director of Parks Kyra Kaltenbronn Program Services Manager Jim Gerken Operations Manager Carolyn Weingaertner Fiscal Services Manager John Nesbit Chief Ranger Paul Andrew Engineer Supervisor Parks Advisory Board Ernestine Shivers-Jones, Chair Diane Christy Angie Hilzinger John Lorenz Bob Nelson Gary Otten Denise Pott Gerry Sander Don Zykan Photo: Al Foster Trail Photo: Creve Coeur Lake 3

4 Your St. Louis County Parks & Recreation Department At A Glance The Saint Louis County Parks and Recreation department, founded in 1950, manages more than 12,700 acres of land and water spread throughout the 524 square acres of St. Louis County, Missouri. Beginning with just Creve Coeur Park, County parks have been acquired in various ways - through federal lands, generous donations, bond issues and purchases. Recreation Complexes Greensfelder Recreation Complex (Queeny Park) North County Recreation Complex (Veterans Memorial Park) Affton Community Center 70 Parks Outdoor Amenities 144 Miles of Trails 99 Athletic Fields 5 Recreation Centers 3 Golf Courses 589 Acres of Lakes 2 Ice Rinks 77 Picnic Shelters 41 Playgrounds 79 Comfort Stations 3 7 Cultural/Historic Sites Pools 7 Boat Ramps 2 Skate Parks 4 Disc Golf Courses 3 Archery Ranges St. Vincent Community Center (St. Vincent Park) Kennedy Recreation Complex (Near Suson Park) Staff Full-time 214 Part-time Treetop Adventure Course 41 Tennis Courts Historical & Cultural Sites Laumeier Sculpture Park General Daniel Bissell House Jefferson Barracks Historic Site Fort Belle Fontaine Museum of Transportation Frank Lloyd Wright House in Ebsworth Park St. Louis Carousel & Historic Village at Faust Park 4 Photo: Spirit Field at Spanish Lake Park, an ADA accessible baseball field provided by CardinalsCare 2013 Annual Report

5 Activities, Attractions & Events As the regional park system for Saint Louis County, we realize that its our responsibility to provide a variety of year-round activities and events for our residents and surrounding community. We take that responsibility very seriously and had a jam-packed year of family-friendly events! Special Events Event Park/Venue Attendance Adult Easter Egg Hunt Jefferson Barracks 1,173 Art Fair Laumeier 15,900 Candy Cane Hunt Faust 575 Children s Garden Club varies 1,533 Farm Friday Suson 3,696 Harvest Festival Laumeier 3,300 Heritage Festival Faust 2,030 Hayrides varies 3,020 JB Blast Jefferson Barracks 12,000 Olden Days of Summer Faust 787 Puppet Shows St. Louis Carousel 1,042 Summer Concert Series Faust 31,300 Summer Camps varies 2,307 Tasting of the Garden Queeny 600 WWII Weekend Jefferson Barracks 10,000 Attendance Attendance increased from 18,500 in 2012 to 20,500 in Events In 2012, the Parks Department hosted 12 FEAST events and increased it to 15 in There are plans to add three new venues in Attendance Winter Wonderwalk 7,973 Carriage Rides 21,462 Vehicles 113,585 Revenue Winter Wonderwalk $41, Carriage Rides $275, Vehicles $20, Recycled Lights $2, Saint Louis County Park s Winter Wonderland display at Tilles Park is our largest event of the year and has become a tradition for many St. Louisians. Each year our team works to make it bigger and better and 2013 was no different. This year visitors experienced more than 1 million lights and displays (some of which were synchronized to music), the addition of more energy-efficient LED lights and the opportunity to pop the question in a very unique way. Even with the shortened season, Winter Wonder Walk and Winter Wonderland were very successful in

6 New Hires & Promotions in 2013 Staff Member Title Location Ryan Allen Rec. Fac. Coord. NCRC Adam Bliley Rec. Sup. NCRC Erica Bockhoff Complex Mang. KRC Andrew Brown Maint. Driver II/ Queeny Forestry David Caruso Maint. Worker I Suson Joe Chadd Maint. Worker I Faust Jared Chestnut Ranger Aid Rangers Stacy Clinton Off Serv Rep GRC Gabriel Cotton Structural Spec JB Trades Paul Derenzio Build. Sys. Spec ACC Bonnie Diaz Funding Admin. Clayton Tim Dlugos Maint. Worker I Clydesdale Keith Ehlen Maint. Supv. Museum of Trans. Krista Farrow Secretary ACC Mike Gangwes Maint. Worker I Creve Coeur Pat Ganley Maint. Worker II McDonnell Dan Gonzales Museum Curator Jefferson Barracks Darren Hagen Maint. Worker I Queeny Mark Harbor Maint. Worker II Greensfelder George Heege Maint. Worker I Jefferson Barracks Graham Heidemann Ranger Aid Rangers Ronda Horst Off Serv Rep KRC Kim Johnson Off Serv. Coord. Clayton Robert LaBoube Maint. Worker I Clydesdale Michael Lagemann Maint. Worker I Creve Coeur Yvette Luedde Maint. Lead Site Laumeier Coord. Ray Mertz Maint. Worker I Bellafontaine John Meyer Maint. Sup. Spanish Lake Tameka Moore Off Serv Rep Clayton Bob Moritz Maint. Driver Lead JB Trades Don Nickels Maint. Worker I Buder Aaron Owens System Analyst Clayton Jason Pratte Maint. Sup. Sioux Passage Staff & Volunteers Parks staff work tirelessly year-round to keep our parks, recreation centers and museums running and looking great. This year we were able to fill many positions that will enable us to continue to expand and improve our programs, facilities, trails, waterways and green space. We were sad to say goodbye to several long-time employees who spent a large part of their working years in the Saint Louis County Parks Department. Welcome to our new employees and congratulations to those who were promoted or retired! Staff Member Title Location Sherron Randle Build. Maint. NCRC Spec. Patty Reuter Mat./Inv. Supply Clayton Supervisor April Riebeling Maint. Worker II Museum of Trans. Angie Riehn Public Info. Coord. Clayton Jackie Robinson Rec. Fac. Coord. St. Vincent CC Ben Runser Park Ranger Tilles John Schuh Build. Sys. GRC Foreman Robyn Shipman Museum Exhibit Museum of Trans. Tech Sean Smith Ranger Tilles Adrian Stubblefield Main. Worker II McDonnell Karrielyn Sturmer Ranger Aide Rangers Marvin Thomas- Recreation Supv. St. Vincent CC Anderson Sue Tornetto Rec. Fac. Coord. KRC Kris Unger Maint. Worker I Buder Roxanne Wells- Secretary NCRC Williams Charles Wiseman Build. Sys. KRC Foreman Michael Wittaker Maint. Supervisor Bellafontaine Retirees in 2013 Staff Member Years of Service Location Larry Ailor 21 years Museum of Trans. Les Cassady 39 years Faust Marc Kollbaum 22 years Jeff. Barracks Chris Ludwig 28 years Clayton/DDG Edward Murray 15 years Spanish Lake Rocky Neal 25 years KRC Ron Richardson 12 years Queeny Karen Sensabaugh 38 years Clayton/OPS Cecil Smith 35 years Bellefontaine Annual Report

7 I can t say thank you enough to our volunteers who work year-round to complete various parks projects, keep our trails safe and clean and our parks looking beautiful! - Tom Ott, Acting Director Saint Louis County Parks relies heavily on volunteers to help maintain our beautiful County parks and facilities. In fact, many museums and gift shops would not be able to open and many of our gardening projects and trail maintenance would not be completed without the efforts of our amazing volunteers. Volunteer Hours & Value Year Hours Value* ,818 1,558, ,787 1,888, ,735 2,037, ,681 2,214, ,714 2,259, ,447 2,555,997 * Value is figured based on the rate set forth yearly by the National Independent Sector Volunteer Value. Photo: A group of dedicated Parks volunteers, along with the Friends of Jefferson Barracks, completely remodeled and restored the North Entrance of Jefferson Barracks Park. This was made possible by a grant from the Port Authority. Our Volunteers Do It All! We have volunteer opportunities for all ages, talents and interests! From gardening to trail maintenance and museum attendants to honeysuckle removal, we truly have something for everyone. Some of the volunteer positions we are typically looking to fill include: Trail Crew volunteers Museum Attendants Trail Watch volunteers Gardening volunteers Honeysuckle Removal volunteers Farm Hands Interns for various educational focuses For more information contact Sue Bell at (314) or visit Special Thanks Saint Louis County Parks has an ongoing partnership with Gateway Off-Road Cyclists (GORC) volunteers who help us design, build and maintain our trails. GORC leads every Trail Crew event we have. Thank you to the National Charity League-St. Louis Chapter, the Open Space Council-St. Louis Region and St. Louis Community College-Meramec for their continued support. Thank you to the Missouri Botanical Garden and the University of Missouri Extension St. Louis Master Gardeners Program which help us recruit experienced gardening volunteers. Thank you to our corporate sponsors which included Arch Coal, Ernst & Young, Kohl s, Marriott, Southwest Airlines and T-Mobile.

8 Park Rangers Our 29 Park Rangers not only keep our visitors, parks and facilities safe, but they design, develop and implement a wide variety of educational programs. These programs are offered on a year-round basis and are provided to the public at little or no cost. Some of our most popular programs included: Creve Coeur After Hours Badge Night Camp Out Fishing Programs/Lessons Team Challenge / Alpine Tower Scavenge Through the Night Full Moon Bike & Walk Great Outdoors Day Dog Walk/Hike Many of our programs are only able to be offered due to the generosity and dedication of valued partners. Thank you our following partners: Alpine Shop Creve Coeur Lake Rentals Missouri Department of Conservation South County Archers National Recreation & Park Association 2013 Park Ranger Programs & Safety Statistics Written Reports 597 Traffic Citations Issued 353 Summons for Ordinance Violations 315 Educational Programs Provided 172 Attendance at Ranger Programs 4,056 Revenue by Ranger Programs $33, Annual Report

9 Rentals Our parks and facilities are used year-round for a variety of different events. From thousands attending a 5K to a few family members celebrating a special milestone, we have a large variety of venues located throughout the County that are perfect for any event. In addition to picnic sites and shelters, we have several unique rental opportunities such as our Team Challenge Course and Alpine Tower and the new Go Ape attraction at Creve Coeur Attendance from Rentals Corporate Picnic Sites 21,625 Athletic Fields 204,700 Weddings 6,655 Picnic Sites/Shelters 332,953 Team Challenge/Alpine Tower 1,016 Special Events 101,104 Ice Rinks (2013/2014 season) 91, 620 Swimming Pools 28,386 Our brand new Proposal Package at Winter Wonderland was popular for those looking to pop this question around the holidays. The sign was constructed and installed by a Parks welder and electrician. This unique engagement experience included a carriage ride through 1 million twinkling lights then a special stop where the groom used a remote control to turn on a set of lights that his future bride will never forget. Number of Proposals: 15 Revenue: $1,500 On June 5, 2013, Saint Louis County Parks held a dedication ceremony for our newest covered picnic shelter, located in Faust Park. The shelter was the first of its kind in Faust Park and can hold up to 150 guests. The new shelter was built completely by Parks staff members and is located near the playground and restrooms. On July 26, 2013, Saint Louis County Parks held a Grand Opening ceremony to celebrate the opening of a new tree-top adventure course that is not only the first of its kind within the Park System, but the first in Missouri! Go Ape is located within Creve Coeur Park and includes five ziplines, including the first skateboard zipline in the Midwest, two Tarzan swings and over 40 other challenging and fun obstacles. Go Ape served more than 4,000 guests in its first three months. 9

10 Recreation Centers The Parks Department has five recreation centers located throughout Saint Louis County that provide our residents with programs, activities and amenities that promote an active lifestyle. Parks realizes the impact these facilities have on the community, so a great team of time and resources are put into keeping them up-to-date and in great shape for visitors. Saint Louis County Parks Recreation Centers Affton White-Rodgers Community Center 9801 Mackenzie Rd. St. Louis, MO Greensfelder Recreation Complex Queeny Park 550 Weidman Rd. St. Louis, MO Kennedy Recreation Complex 6050 Wells Rd. St. Louis, MO North County Recreation Complex Veterans Memorial Park 2577 Redman Rd. St. Louis, MO St. Vincent Community Center 7335 St. Charles Rock Rd. St. Louis, MO Projects Completed in 2013 Affton Community Center Lobby furniture was replaced Kitchen was renovated Shade rollers were installed in the meeting room Greensfelder Recreation Complex Rebuilt ice rink compressor HVAC repairs and replacements Repaired and coated the roof Installed new carpeting Kennedy Recreation Complex Installed a steel storage container to house ice rink dasher boards Ice Rink repairs North County Recreation Complex Installed new basketball goals in gymnasium Installed new doors from former fitness area to gym Painted Leo Wilson Shelter Repaired and applied coating to existing roof St. Vincent Community Center Repaired pool decking, replaced doors and painted slides Replaced steel doors in men s and women s locker rooms at swim center. Lemay Community & Aquatic Center Saint Louis County Port Authority and St. Louis County Parks and Recreation have partnered to bring a new state-of-the art facility to the Lemay community. This new attraction is being built in Jefferson Barracks Park Annual Report New Aquatic Center at North County Recreation Complex The Parks Department also broke ground on a new aquatic center that will replace the old pool at the North County Recreation Complex. This new project was made possible with support from the Saint Louis County Port Authority and the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership. The new aquatic center will feature a lazy river with spray features, a leisure pool with lap lanes, a tot pool, slides, an interactive play structure and much more!

11 Cultural & Historic Sites Saint Louis County Parks is proud to be a well-rounded park system. We are not only stewards of green space and natural features, but are also dedicated to protecting the culture and history that makes Saint Louis County a great place to live, work and play. Laumeier Sculpture Park served about 12,700 people through on-site and off-site educational programs which included group tours, camps, class programs, events and the Creation Location at their annual Art Fair. Overall, more than 290,000 visitors enjoyed this unique sculpture park last year. Faust Park was able to expand their Historic Village, mostly due to extraordinary private donations. Construction began on the Spanish Lake Blacksmith Shop and re-construction of the Fenton Mercantile also began. Both structures were saved from demolition due to generous community involvement. Jefferson Barracks entered into a lease for 16 Hancock, a 1898 Married Officers Duplex, with the Jefferson Barracks POW-MIA Museum and the long-awaited Missouri Civil War Museum opened as well. Fort Belle Fontaine hosted an Eagle Watch, sponsored by the Friends of Fort Belle Fontaine Park, on January 19. More than 350 people attended the event which featured the World Bird Sanctuary and their birds of prey as well as refreshments and the viewing of Eagles flying above the bluffs of the Missouri River. The St. Louis Carousel at Faust Park was able to install a brand new, beautiful sign for the carousel building due to the generosity of the Faust Park Foundation. Saint Louis County Parks Cultural & Historic Sites Fort Belle Fontaine Bellefontaine Rd. St. Louis, MO Frank Lloyd Wright House in Ebsworth Park 120 North Ballas Rd. Kirkwood, MO General Daniel Bissell House Bellefontaine Rd. St. Louis, MO Historic Village in Faust Park Olive Blvd. Chesterfield, MO Jefferson Barracks Historic Site 345 North Road St. Louis, MO Laumeier Sculpture Park Rott Rd. St. Louis, MO Museum of Transportation 3015 Barrett Station Rd. St. Louis, MO St. Louis Carousel at Faust Park Olive Blvd. Chesterfield, MO Thornhill Estate in Faust Park Olive Blvd. Chesterfield, MO The Museum of Transportation was enjoyed by over 1 million visitors who had the opportunity to experience a variety of activities ranging from viewing the first imported car in St. Louis to riding a trolley car that served the area over a century ago. The Museum had its busiest holiday season ever due to the display of a model train layout that has been a St. Louis tradition for decades. The opening of a new exhibit gallery featuring vehicles built in St. Louis was very popular with visitors as well as the eight car and truck shows hosted at the Museum. 11

12 A sampling of 2013 improvement projects include: Bee Tree Park Created a bride changing room for use at weddings Bon Oak Park Replaced existing restroom and completed phase II of playground installation. Creve Coeur Park Renovated Sailboat Cove parking lot consisting of asphalt overlay and additional parking spaces and realigned roadway/trail intersection at west side entrance to increase safety Faust Park Replaced playground surfacing and relocated a Blacksmith Shop from Spanish Lake and a Mercantile Building from Fenton to the Historic Village. Larimore Park Converted half of the tennis court area into a skate park by moving the existing fence and installed bolt on ramps and rails Ohlendorf West Park Installed trail fitness stations, added a sidewalk extension from nearby neighborhood, created a wood chip trail, added a drinking fountain and installed new playground equipment. Park Maintenance & Projects Saint Louis County is extremely fortunate to have excellent parks with a variety of amenities. The popularity of parks is evident when you see the volume of users enjoying the sites. As standard operating practice, the Department is constantly checking our parks and identifying maintenance projects to ensure that our facilities remain safe and in good condition for our community. Improvements to our Park Lands With help from a Fish and Wildlife Grant, we were able to build a 4-acre wetland at George Winter Park 200 trees were planted at McDonnell Park to provide additional habitat options for wildlife 60 acres of invasive honeysuckle were eliminated at Queeny Park and replaced with 950 trees. Controlled burns of prairie and savanna land were conducted at three parks: West Tyson, Greensfelder and Fort Belle Fontaine. Burns were conducted on a total of 105 acres resulting in the natural recycling of nutrients, limiting invasive trees and shrubs and stimulating native plant growth. Our Forestry crew, Maintenance crew and Rangers were all actively involved with flood clean up due to four separate flood events along the Missouri, Mississippi and Meramec Rivers. Several of our parks were affected including Winter, Simpson, Lower Buder, Unger, Lemay, Clif Cave, Lower Meramec, Creve Coeur and Sioux Passage. Over 25,650 cubic yards of debris and 1,650 cubic yards of silt were removed. 130 hazardous trees were contractually removed throughout the park system and were replaced by 230 new trees. Sioux Passage Repaired failing storm water culvert at the campground and installed an additional 18- goal disc golf course using all volunteer labor and donated material. Sylvan Springs Park Reconstructed the tennis courts and installed a new surface on the main playground Annual Report

13 On the Horizon... With the passing of Proposition P last spring, we have been able to complete several maintenance projects that have had to be delayed due to lack of funding. We have also been able to begin to plan for several big projects that will provide countless new benefits to our community. Projects Planned for 2014 Bee Tree Park Replace playground equipment Bella Fontaine Park Expand Maline Creek Greenway - eastern portion (Funded by Great Rivers Greenway) Install new surface on existing playground Bohrer Park Replace playground equipment Pond renovation Grant s Trail Pave the parking lot for Grant s Trail at Green Park Rd., under the Hwy 55 bridge Photo: Rendering of new Fine Arts Center at Laumeier Sculpture Park. Laumeier Sculpture Park Complete new Fine Arts Center and existing Gallery renovations Addition of new ADA walkways at the Art Camp shelters Lone Elk Park Replace existing Bison fence Expansion of fence at elk handling area Redo entrance and exit gates Museum of Transportation Extend trolley to automobile center North County Recreation Complex Athletic Field restoration project Queeny Park Addition of a new destination Dog Park Renovation of park road frontage along Mason Rd., redo and add lighting to signage Spanish Lake Park Redo surfacing on playgrounds at St. Vrain and O Mara shelters. Suson Park Renovate farm fencing Photo: Barn at Suson Park Project Partners Without the support and dedication from several partners, many of our park improvements would not be possible. Thank you to the following partners: - Great Rivers Greenway - Friends of Jefferson Barracks - Friends of Faust Park - Friends of Fort Belle Fontaine - Laumeier Sculpture Park - Transportation Museum Association 13

14 Technology & Media Internet Usage The level of which our users rely on our website for information has increased substantially over the past four years. We also saw a large shift in the amount of citizens that use the Internet on their mobile phone versus a personal computer. Statistics show that citizens rely heavily on the Internet for information and interactive services. The Department uses technology to provide information to our citizens in the form of enewsletters, , Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites. We also rely on technology to receive feedback from parks users in the form of online surveys and s. The community has the ability to utilize an online service to reserve park shelters and to register for some events and online transactions increased from 880 in 2012 to 3,017 in 2013 proving the importance of providing our citizens with online resources. In 2013 the Department completed its PCI compliance required by the bank merchants for credit card processing and installed new terminals at each point-of-sale location. 1,600,000 1,400,000 1,200,000 1,000, ,000 Total Pageviews 1,112,640 1,479,729 Social Media Social Media is quickly becoming the most efficient and most preferred way for our community to receive information. The Parks department currently has 14 different Facebook pages, two Twitter accounts, a Pinterest account and use YouTube for trail videos. In 2013 the IT and Marketing departments began holding weekly giveaways to increase our likes on Facebook. The promotions were effective with our followers 600, , ,978 increasing from 14,764 in January to 22,095 by the end of December. 200, ,000 68,000 66,000 64,000 62,000 60, , Pageviews Using PC versus Mobile 68,397 62,038 PC Pageviews Mobile Pageview 61,396 62,038 Follow us on Facebook at: St. Louis County Parks Affton Community Center Faust Park Fort Belle Fontaine Historic Site General Daniel Bissell House Greensfelder Recreation Complex at Queeny Park Jefferson Barracks Historic Site Kenned Recreation Complex Laumeier Sculpture Park Museum of Transportation North County Recreation Complex St. Louis County Parks Gardening St Vincent Community Center The St. Louis Carousel at Faust Park 58,000 56,000 January December PC Pageviews Mobile Pageviews Twitter StLCountyParkRangers St.Louis CountyParks Annual Report

15 Financials Fiscal responsibility and accountability remain of the utmost importance to the Parks Department. Over the past few years we have found ways to operate at reduced staffing levels and continue to look for ways to improve our operational efficiencies and effectiveness County Council Approved Budget Salary & wages $12,215,033 Payroll Fringes $5,390,770 Purchased Services $5,200,455 Commodities & Supplies $2,472,495 Personal Allowance & Reimbursement $72,945 Other Expenses $1,442,764 Transfer Payments & Interfund $1,002,932 Capital Outlays $1,638,296 Total $29,435, Estimated Revenue Total Property Taxes $11,351,437 Sales Taxes $11,105,200 Investment Earnings $28,020 Rents and Concessions $1,977,389 Charges for Services $1,060,020 Other Revenue* $1,585,938 Total Revenue $27,108,004 Use of available Fund Balance $2,327,686 $29,435,690 * Includes $1,126,138 for Debt Service revenue related to building two structures: Lemay Community Center and Aquatic Center at North County Recreation Complex 15

16 Saint Louis County Parks Administrative Offices 41 S. Central Avenue 7th Floor Clayton, Missouri