VIRGINIA BEACH — My favorite rock group, Chicago, is known for a hit song, “Saturday in the Park.” A title change might be needed around these parts. Something like “Saturday in the Award-Winning Park.”
Virginia Beach’s Parks and Recreation Department is the best in the nation.
The American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration, in partnership with the National Recreation and Park Association, recently awarded the 2023 National Gold Medal Award for Excellence in Park and Recreation Management to our city’s parks department for the top category, cities with a population of 400,000 or more.
I recently spoke with Michael Kirschman, director of the city parks and recreation department, about the honor.
“This truly was a team effort, and we all share in this award,” Kirschman said, and he then gave five key reasons the parks system here is so highly regarded.
“We are so fortunate to have sustained elected officials support, sustained public support, solid funding, high quality facilities and programs, and our dedicated professional staff,” he said. “Without just one of these, we are not likely to win. Many other cities might be just as good as us in a few of these areas, but our city has allowed us the opportunity to aim high in providing all these components to our residents.”
It shows. Virginia Beach has seven recreation centers and 293 park sites spanning 7,000 acres, and 65 percent of our residents are within a 10-minute walk of an official park and recreation space. That’s a lot to maintain, certainly, but Kirschman and the staff are up to the task.
“We subscribe to the broken window theory,” he said. “One broken window, left unrepaired, will lead to additional broken windows. So, we like to maintain our resources with efficiency. A broken swing benefits no one.”
They also maintain all the green grass in city road medians, schools, fire stations and city properties.
“If it’s green and growing,” the director said, “we’re out there mowing.”
What do you do as an encore?
“First, we’d like to develop more neighborhood parks and upgrade our recreation centers, as well as develop and build the Virgina Beach Trail,” he said. “This trail will run east-west through the city utilizing the old railroad tracks parallel to Virginia Beach Boulevard and will be multi-use for walkers, hikers, and bikers.
“Next up would be to find and develop more park space as it becomes available – especially in parts of the city which are underserved. And we want to continue to meet the recreational trends such as pickleball courts, for example.”
I asked for a sneak preview of what’s coming soon to a park near you.
Kirschman said the department is looking into providing self-service kayak rentals at some riverside parks – and could there be a Mount Trashmore II? “[M]uch further down the road could be the development of the rapidly filling city landfill off Centerville Turnpike. It’s too early to really see what it looks like once filled, but it is something we think we will be excited about in the future.”
He’d like to see more partnerships with community businesses and organizations, which have led to projects such as the Marshview Park Mountain Bike Trail System and the Woodstock Park skate park.
I spoke with Kirschman at Woodstock Park on a beautiful October afternoon. There were folks playing pickleball, toddlers on swings, a teenager flying a drone, skateboarders showing skills and couples holding hands while walking on paths.
I pointed this out.
“A great example of what an award-winning program looks like,” Kirschman said. “Something for everyone.”
The author, a business coach and consultant, is active in community service and enjoys time with his wife, Kim, and daughter, Kara. Reach him via email at mckco85@aol.com.
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