Parks and Recreation System Master Plan Update (2016) parks_and_recreation_system_master_plan_update_oct | Page 10

There were two components to the 1995 Plan’s recommendations and estimates for
operating and maintenance costs. First, the Plan recommended that the level of maintenance
expenditures for the parks and recreation system existing in 1995 be increased. It was
recommended that the then current operations and maintenance budget of $14.7 million be
immediately increased to $19.8 million in order to provide a safe and effective parks and
recreation system. Second, the costs necessary to maintain the new parkland to be added to the
system were estimated at approximately $5.5 million (in 1995 dollars) by the year 2020. These
additional costs would have been incurred on a gradual basis as the parks and open space
system grew over the next 25 years.
By 2015, the Operating Budget for Louisville Metro Parks and Recreation Department
(LMPRD) for FY 15-16 had risen to $25,139,400.
Approximately 5,250 acres of new parkland, mostly regional, was added to the Parks,
Recreation and Open Space inventory since the 1995 Plan. This includes approximately 1,566
acres acquired and managed by LMPRD, approximately 3,000 acquired and managed by 21 st
Century Parks, Inc., and 686 acres acquired by LMPRD and now managed by 21 st Century Parks.
In addition, Metro Parks took on many new responsibilities such as cemeteries; historic
sites; shared use paths including the Louisville Loop; aging community centers, maintenance
district buildings and many other facilities needing roofs, HVAC upgrades, playground
equipment needing safety upgrades; among many other operating issues. Also since 1995,
about 2,200 acres of parkland has been removed from LMPRD’s inventory, most of this acreage
consisted of Otter Creek Park in Meade County which has been transferred to the
Commonwealth of Kentucky for use as an outdoor recreation area. In addition, as previously
mentioned 685 acres of land owned by Louisville Metro Government and formerly managed by
LMPRD is now under management by 21 st Century Parks as part of the Parklands of Floyds Fork
regional park.
How the 1995 Plan was to be implemented
The Plan proposed that by undertaking the land acquisition and park improvements
program, and providing the funds to adequately operate and maintain the parks system,
Louisville would adopt new strategies and techniques. (Chapter V of the Master Plan discussed a
broad variety of potential implementation measures, including financial, regulatory, and other
approaches that were available in 1995 and are still, by are large, available.)
It was strongly recommended that early action be taken to enact a number of these
approaches in order to put in place the means by which future parks and open space needs can
be met. As noted in the discussions regarding individual measures, some techniques would
contribute only incrementally to implementation of the Plan while others represented a
comprehensive overhaul of Louisville’s practices in 1995.
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SUMMARY | October 2016 Update