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Newtown Recreation directors report rising youth participation, urge lights, turf and indoor facility at Johns Creek parks
Summary
Contracted operator Newtown Recreation and city parks staff updated the advisory board on summer events, rentals and youth-sports participation, reporting thousands of attendees, about 1,800 soccer players across three parks and plans to pursue lighting, turf and an indoor facility; members pressed for resident registration priority and clearer rental revenue reporting.
Brandon Allen, director of Newtown Recreation and Johns Creek Sports Association, told the Parks Advisory Board on July 7 that youth sports participation is strong and that his organization manages programs across Newtown Park, Collie and Shake Rag. "We have over 1,800 kids a year between the 3 parks playing soccer," Allen said, and he added that Newtown-run lacrosse programming serves hundreds of teams in the region.
Erica, a Johns Creek parks department staff member, summarized June–July programming and community events, saying the June summer concert drew about 2,500 attendees and that staff estimated roughly 12,000–15,000 people were at the Independence Day celebration in the park and surrounding areas. She highlighted new movie-screening equipment that shifted showtimes earlier to be more family friendly, and said a July outdoor movie was canceled because of lightning.
The presentation prompted questions about how registration and field use are managed. Board members raised concerns that nonresidents sometimes fill team rosters and asked whether residents could get a priority registration window across all programs. Allen said Newtown historically provides a two-week priority registration period for Johns Creek residents that guarantees a spot if residents register in that window; Erica said the city's athletic association policies permit resident-priority registration but the city has not required all associations to implement it and staff will research whether broader enforcement is needed.
Members also sought clearer rental and revenue reporting. Staff said quarterly rental reports list totals by park and include an estimated, self-reported breakdown of use by sport; staff agreed to add clearer income rows for events such as 5K races and to summarize pickleball revenue in future reports. The board asked whether some tournament or third-party revenues are missing from the city's rental list; staff explained that tournaments administered under an existing field-use permit (for example by OC) are recorded separately and that associated revenue appears in the permit-holder's report.
Allen and his partner, Ari Mavrodogoglu, outlined facility priorities if funding were unlimited: lights on select baseball and soccer fields, additional turf and multiuse fields, and improved concession/access infrastructure. They said neighborhood opposition and the park's original design as a passive space create resistance to adding lights at Newtown Park, but staff noted lighting would enable expanded evening programming and adult leagues. Allen suggested additional dedicated cricket pitches and an indoor facility to host volleyball, basketball and winter programming; he said school-court rentals and pandemic-era custodian requirements have made indoor court rentals cost-prohibitive, constraining local basketball offerings.
On maintenance and reinvestment, staff reported that athletic associations are in compliance with their reinvestment obligations and that the city documents revenue and reinvestment annually. Board members pressed for continued transparency over how reinvestment dollars are spent at facilities such as OC and Newtown.
The board approved the minutes by voice vote later in the meeting. No formal policy changes were adopted; staff will return with follow-up research on resident-priority registration and revised rental-report formatting at a future meeting.
