we are parks

year in review 2020

MAYOR JORGE O. ELORZA CITY OF PROVIDENCE 1 We are Parks!

The Parks Department met the challenges of 2020 head on. Despite the temporary closure of the City’s parks and facilities in the early days of the COVID crisis, Parks never wavered from our commitment to provide safe spaces to play, relax and explore. As essential workers, our crews have been in our neighborhoods and downtown parks every day, providing the kind of care and maintenance that has become our standard of excellence. With the closure of in-person schools, focused on providing healthy meals at recreation centers and parks. As the crisis continued unabated and parks reopened, it became increasingly clear that Parks are the answer to retaining quality of life and community in Providence. Our parks became gyms, churches, retail spaces, schools, concert halls, camps and places for families and friends to safely connect. Working creatively during challenging times, we sought and received funding to collaborate with our sister department, Recreation to hire 90 youth as ambassadors for our parks; to provide masks, sanitizer, gentle social distancing reminders, and pick up trash left by troves of visitors. Our crews and support staff are to be commended for making the safety of our public spaces a priority, while fear, loss and illness permeated our ranks.

Throughout it all, our management and design teams kept our capital improvement work moving forward, resulting in the completion of 26 major park revitalization projects, totaling $4,650,000 of investments. Our venues found creative ways to generate income and welcome the public back. Sadly, our North Burial Ground provided unprecedented burial services to families who lost loved ones to COVID.

While we had to postpone some of our cornerstone events like Earth Day, volunteer appreciation event, Staff appreciation day, the end of the summer brought a ray of sunshine with the socially distant celebration of the completion of our new grounds facility resulting in better working conditions and more efficient operations.

The Parks Department staff continues to creatively problem solve, leverage resources, add value to all our contract projects, and be there for our community. They too are heroes of this pandemic.

2 Mission

Providence’s parks are essential components of building a healthy, inclusive and thriving community. Through our Parks Department we aim to provide city residents with inspiring outdoor spaces that dramatically impact the quality of life within each neighborhood. It is our belief that all residents should have access to a public park that is safe, brings community together and encourages our youth to play, learn and explore. By working in collaboration with local friends groups, we will work to support the needs of each neighborhood and provide programming that is reflective of the children, adults and staff that use these spaces daily.

Goals

Create a unified, coordinated, and accessible park system.

Develop parks, public spaces, and programs that engage and inspire.

Develop brand recognition for quality services (signage, PR).

Continue to build the city’s tree canopy.

Establish a national reputation for best practices and the creative use of resources.

Be renowned for our responsiveness to community needs and interests.

Continue building a team of dedicated, talented and committed employees who are proud to make Providence parks exceptional.

Increase biodiversity and ecological habitat as an integral part of parks design.

Priorities

Create safe, healthy, welcoming spaces that meet the needs of Providence’s distinct and diverse neighborhoods. Provide enhanced outdoor recreation opportunities by developing innovative, sustainable and responsive parks, facilities, amenities and programs. Develop facilities and programs appropriate for multiple generations of residents including those interested in traditional sports and those interested in alternative forms of recreation.

Connect children and families to nature and strengthen communities through our shared spaces that inspire. 3 Operations

The Parks Department currently maintains 120 outdoor spaces. These include traditional parks, athletic fields, basketball courts, playgrounds, conservation areas, walking/running tracks and trails, non- traditional recreation areas (skateboard features, bike tracks, parkour), dog parks, cemeteries, an ice rink, and the flagship Park. In addition, the Forestry Division manages the city’s 27,400 street trees, as well as all trees in city parks and on public property. It handles more than 2,000 service requests from Providence residents each year, including dead tree removal, tree pruning, pick-up of fallen branches, and stump removal. We worked to improve operations and streamline processes in a number of ways. For general operations, we created and maintain a website where manuals and specifications are readily available to staff and maintained projects are archived.

LED RETROFIT Upgraded all lights at City Center

SNOW OPERATIONS Cleared snow in Ward 9, RWP and downtown Providence Parks, school sidewalks, and five recreation centers in all major storms

The North Burial Ground continually strives toward its mission to Gravestone preservation memorialize the deceased, comfort the living, and be an historical destination for the community. 2020 has been no exception, even amid an increase in burials as a result of Covid-19. Staff has worked exceptionally under added pressure, and NBG has continued to address long-standing concerns like gravestone restoration while also offering new opportunities for the community to engage with the North Burial Ground, even from the comfort of their homes. 292 internments including 27 cremations in 2020, a 300% increase in comparison to 2019 192 niches available for sale in our new columbaria garden 76 headstones reset, repaired, or cleaned by NBG staff 147 plants or flowers installed 6 interactive, virtual content tours available on the NBG website 4 FORESTRY OPERATIONS 537 total trees planted by Forestry: 26 PVD Tree Keepers trained 501 trees 36 additional trees 85 total PVD Tree Keepers trained since 2016 planted by PVD planted by other means Neighborhood (City Council, grants, rd 33 year designated Tree City USA Planting Program volunteers)

Creative chainsaw carving brought some whimsy to 2020

Tree planting at Ardoene Park

800 trees protected from Emerald Ash 2,864 total trees pruned: Borer through a two-year treatment plan: 220 treated this year and 580 scheduled for 2021 2,606 street trees (incl. 1,961 thru block pruning) Forestry staff received training on entire park trees industry standards for pruning and safety 258

5 Workforce tracking in GreenCities GIS, included here is a six month snapshot:

Mow, 4% Other, 2% Building (other), 12% Electrical, 11%

Plumbing, 4% Trim/cut, 16%

Irrigation check, 31%

Other, 15%

Litter pick up, 17% Empty trash, 62% Graffiti removal, 11%

New sign install, 10% Fence repair, 6%

NEIGHBORHOOD PARK SERVICES CENTRAL MAINTENANCE Completed Assignments January - October 2020 Completed Assignments May - October 2019 4964 778

Backboard installation at Cranston Street court

Retaining wall build at Fargnoli Park Fence repair at Dexter Training Grounds

6 Food and Play Access

Our Play Ambassadors played a very special Play Ambassadors cleaned equipment role in our parks this year, ensuring that Rhode 20 times per day on average! Islanders could get outside and play safely. Play Ambassadors were on site every weekday to greet visitors, remind them of social distancing guidelines, provide hand sanitizer and masks, clean each play area at least twice a day, and connect families to other valuable programming like Eat, Play, Learn. Ambassadors also tracked COVID compliance and number of visitors

to parks, which was valuable information in determing our pandemic response.

I was happy to give out POPArt! bags today and yesterday. It felt good giving it to them because they were excited “ to use them and I like seeing smiles on their faces! “There were more kids playing in the park today, and adults thanked me for cleaning the equipment. Visitors followed guidelines, maintained distancing, and stayed with their groups.

Held weekly zoom meetings for 150 summer staff to introduce each enrichment kit and how to safely engage youth utilizing the kit materials

7 800 bags of fresh produce were distributed weekly for ten weeks through a partnership with Urban Greens

95,000 grab and go meals served from March-June and managed pilot home delivery system for Providence Public Schools

333,922 grab and go meals served from July-September at six multi-day school-based sites, 20 park sites, and 33 enrolled sites

The Botanical Center’s Produce Donation Project grew and harvested vegetables for local food pantries in South Providence, donating a total of 4,000 pounds of produce

FITNESS IN THE PARKS Due to Covid, the Fitness in the Parks program was used to help small businesses this year. It was proposed to studios and gyms that if they offered one FREE class at a desirable time/location then they could offer fee-based classes and be all classes would be covered under the Fitness in the Parks permit. 10 studios worked with this program 15 free classes offered weekly, including varying levels of yoga, Zumba, and sports conditioning

8 Programming

Prior to COVID-19, the Urban Wildlife Refuge Partnership hosted three sessions of our Urban Nature Explorers program for 67 people in partnership with the Roger Williams Park Zoo and Cranston Public Libraries, including a winter walk throughout Roger Williams Park. These programs engage families in nature play and learning by exploring together. We also continued Free Monthly Bird walks through the winter and fall, engaging 90 people and seeing over 42 species of birds in six parks. Nature Camp was adapted in order to continue learning opportunities in a safe way. We created and distributed over 1,000 Nature Kits and 3,000 Field Guides which included tools for exploration and Providence-specific information to help families learn about the nature in their neighborhoods. These kits and guides were distributed at Summer Meals sites, so children were able to enjoy a free, healthy meal at their Nature journaling and field guides local parks and explore the space using their new tools in a fun and safe manner.

PARK-ISTS IN RESIDENCE Funmi Aileru and Mathew Garza are the City of Providence’s first Park-ists in Residence. They live in two historic homes owned by the Parks Department while they make new art, facilitate public programs, and act as caretakers for the properties.

9 INCREASE VISITORS TO ROGER WILLIAMS PARK SITES All the Park partners worked together to make the RWP a safe and vibrant community space. We welcomed a new operator at the Todd Morsilli Courts and the Met School to experience the park as an extension of their school. Mounted Command hosted open-house events. The Zoo, Botanical Center and Museum of Natural History created innovative ways for visitors (virtual and in person) to learn and explore their vast collections. Through the Roger Williams Park Conservancy’s, Art for the People’s Park campaign, over 1,000 people contributed art, attended a performance, sat for a portrait, attended an art class, came to the Rain Harvest Art Festival or explored the Wish You Were Here postcard exhibit.

Pop-up performance with musician Sidy Maiga

Painting social distancing circles

Fresh-Air Museum brought 2 new exhibits and 2 new planetarium shows, with funding the museum outdoors support from the RI Council for the Humanities 37% increase in visitation and 28% increase in field trip programming over the same period (January-March 13 closure of museum)

600 attendees at the first annual (COVID compliant) Haunted Museum party

85 teachers and over 2,000 students served by distance learning programs

500 students reached by grant-supported summer learning that provided hands-on kits, program trainings, and virtual experiences

STEM support for Providence Public Schools is being finalized with a formal partnership

Met School within the Park is in its second year and provided the Met School students with space to learn Wish You Were Here exhibit

10 Our crews, staff, and volunteers worked to continue the revitalization of Roger Williams Park in many ways this year. Installing a Picture Post for We are grateful to the Roger Williams Park Conservancy users to capture images at for their partnership as well as funding for some key capital green infrastructure sites improvement projects. Roadway striping was completed as well as 16 additional stormwater management features, and the Rose Garden was completely transformed. Additionally, we created a new program for stormwater maintenance. The Botanical Center has begun to train specific 1033 Union employees to serve as a stormwater management crew with one crew leader, along with a team of ten volunteers. We also maintained 33 stormwater sites throughout the park. The Botanical Center installed a native plant-pollinator nursery garden with 200 native pollinator plants to act as a native seed bank and nursery for future plantings. To help our city cope with COVID, we facilitated and created interactive virtual content for on-going virtual tours for garden clubs, senior centers, and others who are not able to visit in person. A “Safe Art” day was held weekly for artists who are high risk for COVID, and we hosted five interns to create at home birding scavenger hunts, edible forest foraging ID cards, and story maps for pollinators and birds.

Re-established 125 roses in the Victorian Rose Garden

Volunteer cyanobacteria monitoring

Renovated rose maze Installed water quantity instrumentation at The Seal House

11 We worked to establish a regional and national reputation for best practices and creative use of resources both by presenting our work and vision at meetings and conferences on the local, regional, and national scale. Public talks and tours on the Roger Williams Park Landscape and Stormwater Management projects showcased our commitment to sustainability.

Visual and performance artists and environmental scientists from Rhode Island shared their inspirations and engaged the public in learning about stormwater and water quality at the Rain Harvest Arts Festival

HOSTED AND PRESENTED: While we were invited to present on our work at many regional and national venues, most of those were cancelled due to COVID. However, we did manage to host or participate in 84 public meetings.

Leadership from the Audubon Society of Rhode Island tour green stormwater structures Pleasant Valley Parkway event

12 Information and Access

In the wake of Covid-19 and the need for essential supplies, the Parks Department acquired GigaTrak’s Tool Tracking System in the summer of 2020 to assist in the inventory tracking of all department supplies and equipment. The system will allow the Parks Department to monitor supply levels, track condition and maintenance on equipment, and allow our crews to better serve the City of Providence and its constituents. Full departmental implementation, including use by North Burial Ground, City Center, the Botanical Center, and Forestry, should be completed in 2021.

IMPROVE ACCESS TO AND INFORMATION ABOUT PARKS Further refined Park Finder application and Park Story Map on City Website through GreenCities GIS, and updated websites for Parks Department and RWP.

13 Park Improvements

Examples of major initiative in the past year (see Annual Report Slideshow) include Playgrounds and amenities completely revitalized at Fargnoli (including waterpark), Dexter, Annie Morris, Columbia, Morris Ave, Brown Street, and Father Lennon Parks; concrete bleacher removed from Gano Park adult fitness areas added at Columbia and Dexter parks; new decorative fencing added at Ridge and Clarence parks; Historic exterior renovations completed at House and Garvin House siding was replaced; Columbus Square statue removed and lighting, benches and picnic areas added. Finally, we completed the Pleasant Valley tree pit stormwater filtration project.

20 completed projects totalling $4,650,000 33 ongoing projects totalling $16,800,000 48 pending projects totalling $14,820,000

Billy Jones Court at Bucklin Park

Manton Skate Park

14 REPAIR OR REPLACE BUILDING INFRASTRUCTURE/MECHANICALS Carriage House and Warehouse completed Carriage House ribbon cutting

MAINTAIN AND UPDATE BALL FIELDS Renovated Bucklin Park and Conley Stadium sythentic turf football fields, added new tennis court and shot put throw area Renovated basketball courts at Richardson, Billy Taylor, Billy Jones (Bucklin), Columbia, and Merino Parks; new basketball court and a half added at Cranston Street Park Fields and amenities restored at Sessions Street, Neutaconkanut, and Ardoene Parks Fields revitalized including irrigation at Merino, Amos Early and Donigian fields

Synthetic turf at Conley Stadium

New kiosk at Neutakonkanut Hill

Reseeded Hopkins Field New scoreboard

15 CREATE PLACES FOR DOGS AND PEOPLE Maintained three dog parks: Waterman Street, Gano, and Bell Street and re-established Blackstone Woods as an on-leash dog area

IMPROVE SAFETY OF ALL PLAYGROUNDS Continued to conduct safety audits of potential hazards at all playgrounds

UPGRADE OUTDOOR LIGHTING New programmable lighting at Scalabrini Piazza New playground at Fargnoli Park

IMPROVE AND EXPAND WATER PARKS Updated and integrated Fargnoli waterpark into the new 2-5 year-old playground

16 DRAMATIC TRANSFORMATIONS Conley Stadium, Billy Taylor Court, and Gano Street Park

17 Stormwater filtration at Pleasant Valley Parkway Community cleanup at Mary E. Sharpe Park

SEASONAL IMPROVEMENTS: 17 sites decorated by Parks partners, staff, and crews brought joy to Roger Williams Park

A giant wreath at the Boathouse, made from materials foraged in the park

18 Artful Parks

MAKING MAGIC HAPPEN Dex the Dragon found his forever home at Dexter Park

Parks crew foreman and artist Giuseppe Cardarelli transformed an unused concrete pier into a magical gnome home in Fargnoli Park

Retaining wall mural by Tracy Silva Barbosa brightens a corner at Pearl Street Park

New court at Cranston Street Park in collaboration with MyHomeCourt

19 Fundraising

$970,000 from grants and fundraising1: $350,000 grant for Woonasquatucket, $20,000 Space grants, $216,000 Governor’s Workforce Traning, $200,000 RIDEM grants for Blackstone Woods and Woonasquatucket Adventure Park, $65,000 artful basketball court improvements from My HomeCourt, $50,000 from Helen Walker Raleigh Trust for trees, $55,000 federal grants for UWP*, $15,000 Robbins de Beaumont Foundation grant*

College Skate Night at BankNewport City Center in January MAINTAIN INCOME- GENERATING CONTRACTS Maintained leases for: Waterplace Pavilion, Subway at BankNewport City Center, Trinity Brewery Annex, RWP Carousel, RWP Swan Boats, La Gondola, Triggs Golf Course, and RWP Todd Morsilli Tennis Courts

Triggs Golf Course, named one of the top 14 municipal golf courses in the country, provided a valuable source of outdoor recreation in 2020

1 not including funds from the RIF Campaign for RWP or CDBG 20 CITY CENTER ICE RINK $246,266 revenue January 1 - March 15 LED retrofit of entire facility improved safety, increased energy efficiency, and will reduce energy costs by67%

$35,095 net Casino income generated, including deposits and refunds: 14 events, 2 free events, and 17 events rescheduled from 2020 to 2021 $70,840 net Botanical Center income generated, including deposits and refunds: 7 events, 44 events rescheduled from 2020 to 2021

$44,734 income generated from park permit fees2

2 net income redistributed to park/facilities projects and programs 21 Looking Ahead

Looking beyond this year, we anticipate going into 2021 with similar challenges, but with the tools, personnel and motivation to have an exceptional year. We are excited about completing some remaining capital improvement projects that were slated for this year, like Joe Williams, Brassil Memorial, and Harriet and Sayles parks. We plan to add India Point Park docks and site improvements, General Street playground and waterpark, JT Owens and Regents park playgrounds, expansion of Adrian Hall Way and Woony Adventure parks, as well as new Columbarium at North Burial Ground and infrastructure at Locust Grove cemetery. We will further explore green infrastructure at Pleasant Valley Parkway.

We anticipate going forward with some of our signature events like Earth Day and Volunteer appreciation as well as fully resuming our training program.

We are grateful to the Board of Park Commissioners, Mayor Jorge O. Elorza, City Council, our colleagues in City Hall and, and our community partners for all the support, collaboration and resources that help us achieve our mission.

Whatever the year brings, we are ready and will do what it takes to make our parks the resources and assets that 2021 needs them to be!

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