photo by: Cynthia Hernandez/Journal-World

Lawrence's South Park, seen here on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, features a bandstand built in 1906 and a fountain dedicated in 1910.

City Commissioners will have a chance Tuesday night to review and approve the Parks, Recreation and Culture department’s master plan, which could serve as a roadmap for the next 10 years even as the department faces budget pressure.

The master plan, crafted with the help of consultants over two years, was approved by the department’s two advisory boards in February, as the Journal-World reported. The plan includes recommendations to help improve the department’s financial health, facilities and cultural and artistic programming. The drafted plan includes suggestions of which objectives should be prioritized for both short-term and long-term planning.

City staff hope having the updated master plan in place would be crucial as the city and department face funding reductions. The city is facing a $6.5 million budget hole for the 2026 budget cycle, and Luis Ruiz, the PRC Director, told advisory boards that the parks department could be a big part of the reductions.

According to a city memo, the reduced resources will require the department to “prioritize key initiatives, streamline operations and explore alternative funding sources,” and the master plan can be that playbook. One of the key recommendations in the master plan is developing a new pricing policy, and Ruiz has discussed potentially adding entry fees to some of its facilities as a way to offset potential cuts to the department through increasing revenue, as the Journal-World reported. Ruiz noted the department has not raised fees for programming in two years, and that Lawrence is an “outlier” compared to cities of other sizes by the fact it does not require entry fees to use its recreation centers.

Other financial recommendations included in the master plan are using part of the city’s tax on hotel stays to support programming and establishing a foundation for the department to generate private funding through donations.

Mark Hecker, an assistant director with Parks, Recreation and Culture, said he’s been involved with multiple processes of forming master plans in Lawrence. Oftentimes, the plans work as a checklist for the department and provide a good framework to figure out what projects can be completed each year. For example, a renovation for the Outdoor Aquatic Center is included in the planning document, something the city is in the process of finalizing, as the Journal-World reported.

One recommendation in the master plan would be adding a new outdoor aquatic center in the city. A city presentation said a key strategic action would be adding a center in West Lawrence to “achieve the goal of having one aquatic center per 50,000 people.” In the draft master plan, that project is something that is expected to be explored in three to five years.

A key recommendation for the arts and cultural aspect would be formalizing the city’s Percent for Art program. The program, which first started in 1986 and has been re-affirmed as a resolution, states that the City Commission may annually set aside up to 2% of “the cost of all capital improvements” to be used for public art, as the Journal-World reported. If the city makes that an ordinance, it would keep that program alive more permanently, creating more chances for public art.

The plan also calls for exploring the potential addition of an outdoor event space like an amphitheater to see if that will help bring more community performances and potentially developing Grover Barn, located at 2819 Stonebarn Terrace, into a museum or cultural site.

Other recommendations included in the plan touch on expanding the walking and biking trails in the city and upgrading playgrounds for better safety and accessibility.

The City Commission will meet Tuesday night at 5 p.m. at City Hall, located at 6 E. Sixth St. The meeting will also be livestreamed on the city’s YouTube channel.