Parks and Recreation System Master Plan Update (2016) parks_and_recreation_system_master_plan_update_oct | Page 170

VII. IMPLEMENTATION
The 1995 Master Plan recommended the continuation of Louisville’s rich and far-sighted
heritage in the preservation of parks and natural resources. Achieving the Plan’s vision of the
parks and open space system by the year 2020 required the addition of nearly 2,300 acres of
local parkland (the existing system has 5,082 acres of local parkland) and roughly 6,000 acres of
new greenways and regional parkland.
Protecting and building upon Louisville’s parks and open space heritage was expected to
incur capital costs for parkland acquisition and improvement, and an increase in annual
operations and maintenance costs. The potential costs identified in 1995 are outlined below.
A. Cost Estimates
A1. Capital Improvements
A general order-of-magnitude estimate of the capital costs (in 1995 dollars) that would
be required to develop the parks, recreational facilities, and open space system is summarized
in Table VII.A.1. The total cost for the acquisition and improvements to be implemented
between 1995 and 2020 was estimated at between $93 and 144 million. This range reflects a
prioritization of the Plan’s recommendations. As shown below in Table VII.A.1, if the top priority
items only were implemented the total cost was estimated at about $93 million. If all the
recommendations were carried out, it was estimated that the total cost would be the higher
$144 million.
It should be noted that these figures do not represent a cost which will be borne directly
by Louisville Metro Government, but rather the total capital expenditure. Much of the financing
could come from sources outside the local government structure. For example, federal funds
provided for 37.5 percent of all capital expenditures on parks in Louisville between 1978 and
1993. While federal funding had already declined in recent years, local governments around the
country were finding new ways of meeting public service commitments, often through more
interactive relationships between the public and private sectors of the economy. Various
sources of funding and other implementations are discussed below in Section B.
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