Use any of the parks in Duluth? Parks and Rec wants you

The community and the city of Duluth have been working on a city-wide Parks and Recreation master plan for the last year and would like to hear your thoughts on the first draft of the report. Everyone is invited to attend the public meeting that will be held at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 23 at the Parks and Recreation office located at 12 E. Fourth St. (Central Hillside Community Center). This master plan will guide Parks and Recreation for the next 20 years. Being a part of the future planning of our park system will ensure that a quality plan is adopted. This is your opportunity to make a contribution.

The Parks and Recreation master plan draft has been presented to the Parks Commission for discussion and refinement. This public meeting will allow those interested in the plan to review the work at their own pace and to engage in direct conversation with the consultants, city staff, and the Parks Commission. The parks master plan will be presented to the City Council for approval sometime before 2011.

This plan will establish a blueprint to achieve an economically sustainable park and recreation system. The guiding principles of this master plan set a course to reduce operating costs, enhance efficiency, improve parks, strengthen partnerships, connect the city with trails, increase access to nature, and create equitable access to healthy recreation. The public will be asked to identify their priorities for the future at the Aug. 23 meeting. The final master plan will include short-term and long-term actions to improve parks and recreation in Duluth

The master plan has been based on input gathered from the community, stakeholders, staff and city officials in 2009-2010. The plan represents their collective wisdom expressed through surveys, meetings, focus groups, hands-on exercises, park and community tours, and brainstorming. It also used the expertise of the consultant team, benchmark data, system-wide evaluation by staff and the consultants, standards from the National Recreation and Parks Association, and best practices from other communities across the nation.

Please make plans to attend the Aug. 23 meeting. Your input is important! If you are unable to make the meeting, you will have an opportunity to review the draft plan on the City of Duluth Parks and Recreation website. The draft plan will be available starting on Aug. 18. At that time, you can go to www.duluthmn.gov/parks/master_plan.cfm and click onto “Master Plan Draft” to view the draft plan. To send us your comments on the plan, click onto “Master Plan Comments.” If you are not able to access the Internet, please call (218) 730-4309 after Aug. 18 for a copy of the plan.