Millcreek Township Parks and Recreation (P&R) presented its five-year strategic plan at the May 14 Supervisors’ Meeting. The document is written with community feedback as a top priority and is designed to be implemented over the coming years.
“This exciting plan will help us to scale and provide more of what the community is asking for,” said Parks and Recreation Director Ashley Marsteller. “We are committed to the recommendations in this plan and thank the residents involved in sharing feedback to shape our plan. We’re eager to realize the full potential of our parks and rec system and will strive to grow as a resource for health, happiness and community engagement.”
The key focus areas from the three public events around the township and the 500+ response survey are:
- Boosting marketing promotion and community engagement
- Promoting connectivity and walkability to recreational areas
- Targeting investments into centralized, high-demand assets and amenities
Increasing marketing promotion and community engagement keeps a pulse on Millcreek Township residents. It also helps to target populations not properly informed or not utilizing existing P&R facilities. Success will be measured by increased participation in P&R programs, rentals and visitation numbers.
Promoting connectivity and walkability is important in creating redevelopment initiatives and planning connections or improvements to existing recreational assets. Success is measured by increasing residents within walkable distance to a park and by increasing the miles of trail or sidewalk improved.
Finally, investments must be targeted into high-demand P&R assets for residents. Millcreek Township is above national benchmarks for P&R and the township has a responsibility to maintain a high level of service. Therefore, P&R needs to adopt and implement a capital improvement budgeting process and increase the capacity to provide high-demand programs and amenities. The concept of a higher capacity centralized community center has appeared multiple times through community surveying and will be assessed.
Read the 2024 strategic plan online at www.millcreektownship.com/parksplan. This includes more information from the community, a breakdown of the current parks inventory and further details on the five-year plan.
