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“How can our existing parks and recreation system contribute more effectively to active living?” This is the primary question posed by the Pottstown Area Parks and Recreation Study, commissioned by the Pottstown Area Health & Wellness Foundation.
The focused effort, conducted by the Hamer Center for Community Design at Pennsylvania State University, studied the Pottstown area’s parks and recreation system in regards to encouraging healthy living. This report, “Planning and Design Strategies for Healthy Living, Parks, and Recreation in the Pottstown Area” identifies recommendations and implementation strategies corresponding to the issues raised by the four question topics: awareness, barriers, access and opportunities.
Four planning objectives directly address the issues raised:
- Build awareness of nearby parks which provide desired amenities.
- Address common barriers to park visitation, such as cleanliness and safety.
- Emphasize active transportation choices for access to local parks to increase overall rates of physical activity.
- Provide a well-rounded range of opportunities at parks through a breadth of facilities and programming.
The Pottstown Metropolitan Regional Planning Commission’s (PMRPC) Recreation Committee, hosted by the Foundation, meets every fourth Wednesday of the month from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. If interested in joining the conversation, please contact Craig Colistra ak at ccolistra@pottstownfoundation.org.
On Your Park, Get Set, Go!®
At its core, On Your Park, Get Set, Go!® is a competition, where parks (located within the Foundation’s service area) vie to be named the area’s favorite and win grant funds for park improvements. At the same time, On Your Park was designed to be part of a bigger vision to promote physical activity and community pride. The Foundation plans to continue the event on an annual basis.
Congratulations to our 2017 winners:
HEALTHIEST PARK PRIZE: The park that received the greatest number of visits by the conclusion of the competition.
1st PLACE: Brown Street Park, Spring City Borough - $5,000 recreation grant for improvements.
RUNNER-UP: Frederick Friendship Playground, Upper Frederick Township- $2,500 recreation grant for improvements.
ACTIVITY CHALLENGE PRIZE: The municipality that collectively cast the most number of ticketed votes regionally by the conclusion of the competition.
1st PLACE: Heather Place Park, Upper Pottsgrove Township- $5,000 recreation grant for improvements.
RUNNER-UP: Brown Street Park, Spring City Borough- $2,500 recreation grant for improvements.
BONUS PRIZE WINNERS: Will be announced Tuesday, August 8th on the Foundation's Facebook page.
2017 Participating Parks:
1.) Amity Township- Amity Community Park
2.) Borough of Boyertown-Boyertown Community Park*
3.) Douglass Township, Montgomery County - Douglass Park*
4.) Lower Pottsgrove Township -Sanatoga Park*
5.) New Hanover Township - Hickory Park Pool*
6.) North Coventry Township- Kenilworth Park*
7.) Borough of Pottstown- Memorial Park*
8.) South Coventry Township - Connie Batdorf Park
9.) Spring City Borough- Brown Street Park*
10.) Upper Frederick Township - Frederick Friendship Playground*
11.) Upper Pottsgrove Township- Heather Place Park*
12.) West Vincent Township- Evans Park*
*Municipalities who participated in the 2016 On Your Park, Get Set, Go!® contest.