Winter park in the running for parks award

The city of Winter Park ranked as a finalist for the National Recreation and Parks Association’s 2013 Gold Medal Award, an honor recognizing the best parks and recreation departments in the nation.

The city applied for the contest early last year — the first time the city made a bid for the award.

Winter Park joins Doral, St. Charles, Ill. and Westerville, Ohio, in the final four of the 25,001-50,000 population category, waiting for the final winners to be announced next week.

“I feel like we’re a winner already to be in that kind of company nationally,” said Mayor Ken Bradley. “If we win the whole thing that will icing on the cake.”

The contest started when five judges made an overall assessment of each city based upon their website and a series of submitted essays, which covered a variety of topics including unique programs the city offers, ways they’ve promoted the environment and community challenges they’ve taken on.

Cities that showed the best combination of community involvement, long-term planning and environmental awareness and conservation moved on to the final four of their population category.

“The award is really about the commitment to excellence in parks and recreation, and meeting the criteria is a very significant accomplishment,” said Lauren Hoffmann, senior public relations and communications manager for the National Recreation and Park Association.

“It’s more than just ‘here’s a park,’ it’s really putting out the best effort forward to serve your community and really make a difference.”

Winter Park’s recognition comes in the wake of several budget cuts the city faced over the past five years during the downturned economy.

In the 2010 fiscal year, the overall budget dropped by $5 million compared to the year before. But instead of cutting back, the city continued to fund parks and recreation, rebuilding all of Central Park and reopening it that same year.

“Our citizens, I think, have certainly appreciated the fact that we’ve invested in the parks even in tough times and difficult times,” Bradley said.

“Mead Garden has expanded and gotten better during the economic downturn, and Central Park is a much better place than four years ago.”

Winter Park constructed a new 38,000-square-foot community center during the downturn as well, giving residents a new location for recreation and fitness.

Parks and Recreation Director John Holland realized the crucial role the department serves in the community.

“Most memories that people have of growing up are from parks – being on teams, playing in the park, playgrounds,” Holland said.

“It’s the foundation of the community. If you’ve got a good parks and recreation program, you’re way ahead.”

The award-winning cities will be announced at the National Recreation and Park Association’s annual congress and exposition in Houston, Texas, on Oct. 8.