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Parks director outlines $26–27 operations push as Sports Park Center nears opening
Summary
Arts & Recreation Director Brett Quarles told the Greenville City Council the department's FY26–27 budget reflects new operating costs for recently completed facilities, requested five part‑time concession hires and PRN backup, and outlined capital needs including mowers, a turf tractor, a laser line painter and $240,000 in FF&E for the Sports Park Center.
Brett Quarles, the city's arts and recreation director, presented the Parks & Recreation portion of the FY26–27 budget and said the numbers are driven by converting recent capital projects into everyday operations. "The budget we put together is based on just the ever changing going from kind of construction of our facilities into an actual operation and maintenance of those facilities," Quarles said in opening his presentation.
Quarles told council the department currently has 38 full‑time employees, 73 part‑time staff and 26 PRN (as‑needed) workers and requested five additional part‑time concession positions plus two PRN backups to staff concessions and provide flexibility at new facilities. He also outlined capital requests and routine equipment replacements, explaining that the city typically leases mowing equipment to manage depreciation and maintenance costs.
On the Sports Park Center, Quarles said the facility is nearly operational and listed FF&E items budgeted in the current plan: "This will include bleachers, floor covering for events, and then all the equipment ... we need there in the space," he told council. The council later approved a resolution to purchase recreation, sports, and spectator equipment for the Sports Park Center in the amount of $240,000.
Quarles reviewed options for turfing fields — citing a per‑square‑foot estimate near $13 — and cautioned that geotechnical work could materially raise costs. He presented a comprehensive estimate to turf all athletic fields in the park system of about $22.5 million and noted smaller options, such as infield‑only turfing, could cost about $122,000. Council members asked about lease terms, maintenance responsibilities and the condition of legacy equipment; Quarles said most commercial mowing equipment is leased on three‑ to five‑year terms with vendor maintenance early in the contract.
The presentation closed with council thanks for the graphics and a motion to approve the Sports Park Center equipment purchase; the vote passed unanimously.
