The city may team up with the private Douglas County Community Foundation to raise money for Lawrence’s parks.

Officials with the Parks and Recreation Department said this spring they were considering creating their own foundation to accept major gifts. Now they say they want to take advantage of the expertise and management structure already in place at the foundation.

“This would give us more viability, more of a community effort to support parks this way,” City Manager Mike Wildgen said Friday.

Fred DeVictor, director of Parks and Recreation, said setting up a parks fund within the Douglas County Community Foundation wouldn’t cost the city money. Instead, he said, the foundation would probably charge a still-unknown administrative fee on any gifts donated to the fund.

“We have to work that kind of stuff out,” DeVictor said.

Officials have said a private foundation would make it easier for the city to receive donations for parks.

Some businesses and foundations won’t make donations to government, DeVictor said, but will to a private foundation. One private entity recently expressed interest in donating a bald eagle for use at the city’s Prairie Park Nature Center, he said, but wouldn’t make the gift directly to the city.

He said Topeka and Johnson County have similar foundations to support their park systems. Johnson County officials said their foundation made it possible for them to open the new 850-acre Kill Creek Park last year.

Sara Corless, director of the Douglas County Community Foundation, didn’t return a call for comment Friday afternoon. But in a letter to city officials, she said the foundation had already incorporated other charities into its work, including the Lawrence Schools Foundation and the Kansas Health Foundation Fund for Children, among others.

The proposal appears likely to gain support from the Lawrence City Commission.

“I think it’s a great idea,” Commissioner David Dunfield said. “Anything we can do to encourage people to make contributions to our Parks and Recreation programs is welcome.”

Commissioners will consider the matter at their next meeting, 6:45 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, Sixth and Massachusetts streets.