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Council approves $55,000 for Parks & Recreation marketing to boost program awareness and access
Summary
The council authorized up to $55,000 from contingency to fund a yearlong marketing effort for Parks & Recreation, aiming to raise awareness about programs, scholarships and adaptive/recreation offerings. Staff said the investment will support a new central program landing page, targeted ads, mailers and partner outreach.
The Rochester City Council on Oct. 6 approved up to $55,000 in one‑time contingency funds for a Parks and Recreation communications and marketing campaign. The motion, made by Council Member Palmer and seconded by Council Member Keane, passed by voice vote.
Parks and Recreation Director Paul Wittman presented the council with an overview of community partners and program delivery across the city. Park staff and partners reported that, in 2024, partner organizations accounted for about 23,000 participants and provided roughly 700 scholarships valued around $86,000. Ben Bolt, Parks program manager, said partners run many free or low‑cost entry programs—youth “try‑it” days, water‑safety lessons, adaptive recreation and community sports clinics—that could benefit from broader promotion.
Communications Director Jenna Bowman proposed two investment packages: a smaller $45,000 option and a larger $55,000 option. The larger option would include radio and online display advertising, an additional mailer, targeted digital outreach and a limited billboard rotation. Bowman said the campaign would also create a single “one‑stop” landing page for programs and partner offerings, modeled on a similar initiative in Duluth, and prioritized inclusive and multilingual outreach to reach underrepresented populations.
Council discussion focused on objectives and measurement. Council Member Keane and others said they supported both immediate awareness efforts and a follow‑up assessment of program gaps. Council Member Palmer, who made the motion, said he favored the $55,000 option and argued the city should invest now to make programs more visible and to help partners expand scholarship and equipment‑share efforts.
The council adopted the funding authorization and asked staff to coordinate the work with the Parks & Recreation Advisory Board and return with a proposed engagement schedule and reporting plan. Staff told the council the project is intended to be iterative: outreach and analytics will inform future investments and any scholarship or program‑gap funding requests that might come to the council later in the year.
Staff noted early digital metrics that supported the case for investment: a recent mailer and QR‑code campaign produced roughly 2,700 scans overall, with several hundred scans specifically for summer aquatics and accessible recreation programs.
The $55,000 will be drawn from 2025 contingency funds and spent on marketing and outreach; staff will report back to the council on results and recommended next steps.
