The idea of creating a small forum where directors of parks and recreation departments in large cities could meet and help each other cope with the problems and challenges they faced started with an impromptu discussion among a group of directors at the 1971 NRPA Congress in Houston, Texas. The founding group of directors included Bob Crawford, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Bill Shiby, Houston, Texas; Joe Davidson, New York, New York.; Joe Curtis, Boston, Massachusetts; and me, Joe Caverly, San Francisco, California.
In 1972, Davidson started the ball rolling by organizing the first Urban Park and Recreation Association (UPRA) meeting in New York City. Representatives from Boston, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Memphis, Milwaukee, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, St. Louis, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. all were in attendance. The group initially agreed to limit its membership to the largest 18 cities by population, in the hopes that a small group would better facilitate discussion. However, by 1979, this was expanded to 30 participants as more and more cities wanted to get involved.
During that first meeting, the group decided to limit participation in the meetings to directors, the key decision makers whose influence and abilities could shape the future of their departments, as well as NRPA’s director, who the group saw as a valuable resource in the field. The group also decided it would act as an alliance to promote positive and realistic public policies and expand funding programs for cities. Encroachment of open space and parkland in urban areas led UPRA to call for a policy for use of parkland exclusively for recreation and park purposes and to encourage the acquisition of open space for more diverse parkland.
UPRA was an informal association with no bylaws or structure other than meeting as a group to help each other. The roundtable discussions would start with each member reporting on the status of his department; often, posing a current situation or problem affecting his community. Group members would share information based on their own experiences and offer suggestions and solutions. During these working meetings, topics included budget constraints, facility upgrades and management, crime, drugs and vandalism, access and services for all populations, as well as environmental conservation and preservation of historic assets. The group also sought ideas to increase community support and build relationships with business leaders for alternative funding.
Federal programs and methods of funding for urban departments were often inadequate, complicated and inefficient. Although federal funding was available, it often was only applicable to summer programming and usually granted too late to implement meaningful initiatives. UPRA advocated for funding to be allocated consistently and in a cycle that would give cities the ability for long-range planning. Other funded programs were too specific and UPRA pushed for broadening the fiscal overview to include facility development and maintenance. The group consistently wrote to Congress urging appropriations for urban parks and recreation through the Land Water and Conservation Fund (LWCF).
In 1979, 10 of the largest metro county departments and park districts were welcomed to UPRA. A highlight of the gathering was that attendees got to tour several unique facilities: the Bronx River Parkway in Westchester, the first auto parkway in America; Muscoot Farm, a newly developed 777-acre interpretive farm; and Merced, the magnificent 137-acre estate of Dr. and Mrs. Robert Patterson, with its distinctive architecture, historic documents and significant art collection. A luncheon at PepsiCo Headquarters allowed the group to see the company’s state-of-the-art employee fitness center, a precursor of today’s widely popular fitness industry.
UPRA’s greatest value was the network of professional resources that developed over the years. The close relationship among the group’s members allowed for frequent interaction and advisement. There was always someone to call on if help was needed with a new idea or tough issue.
The last UPRA meeting was held at the 2008 NRPA Congress in Indianapolis and was hosted by Joe Wynns, director of Indianapolis Parks and Recreation. UPRA then merged with NRPA’s Urban Directors Meeting and, currently, this is a full-day event that is held at the annual NRPA Conference. Sixty of the largest (by population) cities, counties and park districts, reaching out to a network of several hundred cities, participate each year.
[Ed. Note: From the early 1970s to today, NRPA has led the way for parks and recreation in the urban space. This year, NRPA launched a series of Innovation Labs that gather together dozens of high-level urban park and recreation professionals and related industry partners to discuss many of the same issues UPRA originally wished to tackle. These two-day summits drill down for in-depth examinations of today’s most pressing topics, including health and economic vitality.
As our country’s landscape, and that of our field, continues to morph and change, NRPA will be ready with recommendations and solutions for the urban space and beyond. We’re honored to have laid the groundwork and excited to see what the next 50 years has in store.]
Joe Caverly is the former Commissioner of Westchester County, New York ‘s Department of Parks, Recreation and Conservation (1975-1989).
Caverly’s Recollections: Building Urban Partnerships
For me, a significant accomplishment from my involvement with UPRA occurred when, as the general manager of the San Francisco Parks and Recreation Department (SFPRD), I was looking at ways to mechanize and develop a system for our park maintenance crews to work smarter and more efficiently and to be cost effective. At that time, Bill Frederickson, a director in Los Angeles, had a comprehensive study completed for that purpose, and it had good recommendations that were applicable to my department. I was told no funds were available through the mayor’s office to hire the consultant firm, but I was given the go ahead with the study if I could find funding elsewhere.
What followed was an amazing partnership with the corporate community. I went to the Blyth and Zellerbach Committee, comprised of executives of many of the leading corporations in San Francisco, presented my proposal and asked for their top people to work with me on the study. They agreed and we got to work. We met several times a month for more than a year and developed a comprehensive Plan for Action with 338 ready-to-be-implemented recommendations for SFPRD. By the time I left San Francisco in 1974, more than 200 of those recommendations had been realized. In 2002, when my wife, Mary, and I had the pleasure to revisit San Francisco, we were delighted to hear Mrs. Elizabeth Goldstein, the general manager at that time, refer to the Plan for Action as “her bible.”
As general manager, I organized and founded The Friends of Recreation and Parks for San Francisco, which is now a trust with 11 full-time employees. Today, many communities and organizations, big and small, use this not-for-profit format to raise funds. I am most thankful for the help I received from the many members of UPRA, and especially for the lifelong friendships.