Matt Boyer, director of Parks and Recreation for the Fairbanks North Star Borough, demonstrated a new Civic Rec portal and a Park Explorer interactive map the department plans to launch the week of Jan. 6.

Boyer told the Assembly the new site will replace the department’s current activity page and will bring listings for facilities, activities, drop-in programs, membership options and facility reservation links into one interface. "The blue markers indicate amenities. There are over 600 amenities marked on this map," he said during the presentation.

The Park Explorer view shows parks, amenities and vendors on an aerial map of the borough. Users can filter by facility (for example Pioneer Park), amenity type (playgrounds, ballfields, vendor booths) or season tags (summer, winter). Boyer demonstrated reserving an ice house and browsing the Big Dipper Arena calendar, and said links will be provided for vendors and groups that hold contracts with the borough.

Assemblymembers asked about account requirements, mobile accessibility and trail mapping. Boyer said no email-required account is necessary for simple drop-in use, but online reservations and family accounts will require login credentials; he described a tiered approach that allows casual visitors to pay in person. He confirmed Civic Rec is a responsive, mobile-friendly site and that trail mapping is a planned future addition; the current launch includes marked trailheads and winter motorized trails but not full trail polylines.

Boyer said the site is a "constantly evolving" resource and asked departments, user groups and contracted vendors to help keep content current. He and digital services plan staged rollouts for additional functions, including a summer campground reservation pilot for Chena Lake and expanded reservation loops if the pilot succeeds.

The demonstration prompted general assembly support and an invitation for user-group outreach; no formal action was taken. Staff said the existing activity page will be retired when Civic Rec goes live.