Bowling Green parks director reports rising participation; council approves 2025 fee updates

Kristin Atley, Parks and Recreation Director, briefed council on 2024 participation and upcoming 2025 programs and projects and the council approved the department’s 2025 fee document.

Atley said combined attendance for the department’s lunch-in-the-park and concert-in-the-park events was about 1,800 in 2024. She reported 279 children served through parents-night-out programs (started in 2023), 377 youth in summer camps and 1,322 youth participants in youth sports programs the city runs directly. Natural-resources programs had 2,378 participants; volunteer hours recorded were 834 at Winter Garden and 898 at Simpson Garden. Atley noted the community center fitness programs are back to pre-pandemic levels and the parks system includes 11 parks totaling almost 400 acres open year-round.

Atley shared a light statistic — the pool concession sold 1,946 freeze pops last summer at 25 cents each — and said a children’s garden refresh and a replacement for the Peace Garden Bridge at Simpson Garden are complete or nearly complete; a new sculpture is expected around Earth Day. She also noted the upcoming pickleball-court projects and that the department will begin updating its master plan (current plan runs through 2026).

Council approved the Parks and Recreation Department’s 2025 fee document (admission and program registration fees) after a motion and second; the fee document had been distributed to council prior to the meeting and noted for the record.

Ending: Atley said the department will publish a summer brochure in early April and requested council’s continued support for foundation and volunteer partnerships.