Gold Medal 18

The City of Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department has been named a finalist for the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration in partnership with the National Recreation and Park Association 2018 National Gold Medal Awards for Excellence in Park and Recreation Management.

Lawrence Parks and Recreation is a finalist in the Class III category. This is the fourth time Lawrence Parks and Recreation has been a finalist. The other three years were 1997, 1998 and 2015.

Agencies are judged on their ability to address the needs of those they serve through the collective energies of citizens, staff and elected officials. Lawrence joins three other agencies in its class that will compete for grand honors this year. Those agencies are: Bloomington (Ind.) Parks and Recreation Department, City of Evanston (Ill.), Parks and Recreation and Community Services and Greeley (Colo.) Culture, Parks and Recreation.

A panel of five park and recreation professionals reviews and judges all application materials. Judges are chosen for their considerable experience and knowledge in parks and recreation on both the local and national levels.

This year’s finalists will compete for Grand Plaque Award honors this summer, and the seven Grand Plaque recipients will be announced live during the Opening General Session at the 2018 NRPA Annual Conference in Indianapolis, Ind., Tuesday-Thursday, Sept. 25-27.

Each finalist was required to put together a short five-minute video to tell how our agency is unique and outstanding. The above video is our submission.