Fort Wayne Parks & Recreation Department Staff Reports reporting August thru to September 9, 2018 STEVE MCDANIEL ~ Director The Riverfront Advisory Committee met last month to discuss updates to the park construction and design contracts for Phases 2 & 3. We created an internal working group for Promenade Park Operations. This group will be working on items such as policies, rentals, docking procedures, maintenance, river safety, equipment and storage. The staff is working on producing a business plan for Promenade Park. Mitch Sheppard and I presented to the Allen County Fort Wayne Capital Improvement Board for the Conservatory Connector and Sculpture project. We were asking for funding of $250,000 and were successful thanks to the CIB and the Grand Wayne Center. I gave an update to the Park Foundation on park activities. Participated in the press conference for the unveiling of the Park Foundation’s new Campaign supporting Promenade Park endowment and Build the Future Fund. I participated in the Mayor’s Downtown Business Walk the last week in August. We were able to visit with several businesses. I met with Mike Mushett of Turnstone. We are discussing ways that our two organizations can collaborate for future events. I recently obtained my national certification from the National Recreation and Park Association for being a Certified Park and Recreational Professional (CPRP). Sandra Odisho joined the staff as the Manager of Finance. Sandra comes to us from the State Board of Accounts where she was at for several years. Sandra is also a Certified Public Accountant. Marketing Notes: Conducted Media Events for: Salomon Learning Center and Park Foundation event (Sarah lead, Rob and Kathy assisted). Completed the following evaluation reports: Adult Special Interest Class (Spring), WAYne Finding, Riverfront various, Community Center Volunteer, Community Center Volunteer Luncheon, Botanical Conservatory Spring Programs/Events, Preschool (Spring), Children’s Special Interest (Spring), Soccer (Spring). Marketing staff has assisted with numerous PIO tasks. Rob Hines started on August 20th as our new PIO. Our Marketing Intern has assisted with a variety of marketing tasks and is a huge help to all of us! A total of 4769 hits to riverfrontfw.org web site in August. These statistics are included in the total web statistics for the month. Web Statistics: Users: 34,229 Hits: 97,722 Produced 21 promotional pieces including brochures, flyers, posters, displays, certificates and newspaper ads for various programs. Producing a general Community Center brochure for distribution to new downtown residents and downtown businesses. Attended IPRA meeting (Kathy & Rob) at Indiana Dunes: topic was integration of nature in park areas. Met with NIPSCO reps (Kathy & Rob) about work being done on the St. Marys River near the Old Fort. Working on e-mail campaigns for Park and Recreation e-new and OpF4 e-news as well as a general e-mail about Gaelic Storm. Awarded: $15,000 request for youth and FWPD programming with Lincoln Foundation. Submitted: Land & Water Conservation grant for urban areas ($250,000-$750,000 in urban core areas). The project: renovate Foster Pavilion #3; increase connections between Foster and Foster West. CHUCK REDDINGER~ Deputy Director, Recreation Services, Headwaters, Riverfront General Assisted in interviews for Manager of Finance position. Fort Wayne Parks & Recreation Department Staff Reports reporting August thru to September 9, 2018 Attended North West Area Partnership on August 16th. Hosted an extended Recreation Meeting on 9/5 at Salomon Farm Park Learning Center. Attended the Franke Park Master Plan kick-off meeting on September 4th. Athletics and Aquatics Went around to all three pools with representatives from buildings and grounds and landscaping to start putting together a long range plan to address maintenance and aesthetic issues. Met with Rich Hoppe and Dan Butler to discuss BMX and where it fits into future Parks and Recreation development. They offered their services as experts in the field of track planning and building. Met with Andrew Hoffman and Aaron Hawkins to discuss the addition of a cyclocross track in the open field behind the BMX track at Franke Park. Wrapped up the Junior and Pee Wee Golf Tour for the summer. Junior Golf had 484 participants registered through eleven events. Pee Wee Golf had 193 participants registered through five events. Wrapped up Learn-to-Swim for the summer. The total registration for the four sessions was 619. Wrapped up the City Tennis Tournament. The singles and doubles had a combined registration of 162. Travel Services On August 11th the Lake Erie Island Hopping Cruise was full with 104 travelers. The August 25th trip to Easton Town Center in Columbus, Ohio had 40 travelers. The center has been referred to as the Rodeo Drive of the Midwest because of its upscale fashion shops. A short stop at the German Village is on the itinerary for the afternoon. On September 17th thru the 21st we are taking 46 travelers to New York City for 5 exciting days seeing the sites. We will be staying at the Sheraton Harbor Side Hotel right on the Hudson River and seeing two Broadway Plays – “Mean Girls” and “My Fair Lady”. Riverfront This month we finished up our 2018 partnership with the Allen County Public Library for Storytime on the Riverfront. This was a fantastic partnership with an average attendance of 30 people per event. Boat tours continue to be successful. We have created a new brochure which shows both the downtown rivers and the watershed map. It includes points of interest, as well. We are the only boat tour handing out maps and informative brochures to guests. We are also working on content to individualize tours next season and creating flipbooks with pictures and facts to include on the boat tours next season. Our Young Naturalist series continues to grow and develop a dedicated following. Each month we present an ecological topic and provide themed activities, crafts, and snacks to children. This content is also designed to be used in other programs as needed. We did a presentation to SMOCK Senior Ministries with First Presbyterian Church. About 100 seniors attended and were excited about the coming offerings with Riverfront. Community Center - 2018 Summer Program Review Program Ages or Grade # Kids # Kids (2017) #Kids Diff. (+/-) Itty Bitty B-ball 2-4 yrs. 27 41 -14 Fort Wayne Parks & Recreation Department Staff Reports reporting August thru to September 9, 2018 Pee Wee B-ball K-2nd & 3rd-5th 31 72 -41 Mini & Little Kickers 2-4 yrs. 71 135 -64 Kickin’ Kids 4-6 yrs. 107 134 -27 Big Kickers 6-10 yrs. 50 102 -52 Little Sluggers 2-4 yrs. 144 182 -38 Pee Wee T-ball 4-6 yrs. 72 129 -57 Lob Ball 7-10 yrs. 32 37 -5 Running 4-14 yrs. 43 48 -5 Gymnastics/Dance Various 333 382 -49 A/C/Thematic/Contracted Various 239 362 -123 Totals N/A 1,151 1,646 -95 Classes w/Enrollments N/A 131 175 -44 Overall Revenue N/A $52,810.90 $77,514 -$24,703.10 The Pre-School Youth Summer programs were down significantly this summer. The staff felt a variety of factors contributed to this decline including: outside competition, frequency of classes (2 times per week), increasing demand for more competitive programs (vs instructional), and staffing challenges. Recommendations for next year include o All ages for sports programs will be reviewed and modified as necessary o Run programs without overlapping ages (i.e. 2-3, 4-6 & 7-10 yrs.). o Possibly don’t offer morning sessions, we had trouble staffing mornings this year and they don’t attract enough kids so it would be easier just scheduling afternoon and evening times. o All younger programs will run 6-6:45 PM & 7-7:45 PM. All older programs will run 6-7 PM & 7:15-8:15 PM. This will allow for more efficient staff scheduling as well as to better utilization of staff when cancelations occur. o Put more emphasis on sport sampler programs for younger children (3-4yrs old) and possible change some programs to a camp style format for older children. Meeting with Amos Taylor from the Anderson, IN area to discuss their Parks Dept. running an Amazing Race The Community Center held a planning meeting on August 3rd from 8:00am until Noon. Staff looked at programming for last five years to help decide what programs should be eliminated or continue based on attendance. They also discussed possible marketing strategies, program and event possibilities as well developing plans for the next 5 years. Fort Wayne Parks & Recreation Department Staff Reports reporting August thru to September 9, 2018 Kurtz Produce has agreed to donate up to 40 pumpkins for the 1st annual Pumpkin Carving Challenge before the Halloween Haunt on October 20th. This donation helps absorb costs for the event and allows us to put more money toward prizes for participants. A volunteer picnic was held on August 16th with 54 people in attendance. We provided the hamburgers, brats, buns, condiments and beverages. Volunteers brought side dishes, salads and desserts. We had an activity for them to mingle and complete at the beginning and trivia at the end. Civic theater tickets were given to those that attended. Outdoor Recreation At Farm Camp Monarch butterfly caterpillars were donated and the 4-5 year old group was able to release one monarch butterfly. Farm Camp will add additional native insects to program for younger groups next year. Kellie Adkins and Kathy Pargmann attended the IPRA Northern District Meeting in Indiana Dunes on August 23rd GOLF Foster was closed 5 days due to rain and the gathering of water on the course. Several other days we did not run carts.