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Indiana Rural Recreation Development Project

 

Master Planning for Parks and Recreation Resources

Master Planning for Parks and Recreation is an essential task for a community to develop sustainable public recreation and park services. Planning allows a community to systematically collect, analyze, and process technical information to facilitate decision-making. A master plan provides an inclusive framework for orderly and consistent planning, acquisition, development, and administration of a community's park and recreation programs, resources, and facilities (Kelsey and Gray, 1996). Developing and maintaining a master plan is a requirement to apply for Division of Outdoor Recreation grants from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR).

In 2003, while the InRRDP Project Director, Dr. Nathan A. Schaumleffel, was serving as the Project Manager of the Illinois Rural Recreation Development Project (IRRDP), the Village of St. Joseph, Illinois partnered with his Leisure Studies 240 class from the University of Illinois to develop a Master Plan for Parks and Recreation [PDF - Download the Adobe Reader]. This community prepared an OSLAD grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to develop a 40-acre outdoor sport field complex and park. St. Joseph's two-phase grant application was funded for an approximate total of $500,000.  The grant funded the development of a new park to provide needed sport fields for youth sports. St. Joseph is an "IRRDP Success Story" for effectively working toward the IRRDP Mission of developing sustainable public park and recreation services.

For more information on how to develop a master plan for parks and recreation:
  • Kelsey, C. W., & DeFillippo III, S. (2007). Master plan process for parks and recreation (3rd Ed.). Reston, VA: The American Association for Leisure and Recreation an association of The American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance. Buy a copy of this book online.

Other resources for developing master plans for Indiana communities: