Photo Credit: Curtis Bingham
Maintenance standards play an important role in keeping parks safe, functional, and attractive. They extend the life of park facilities and structures, increase the safety of the public, and reduce the potential for lawsuits.
In 2000, the College Station City Council in Texas directed the parks and recreation department to develop park-maintenance standards in response to the council’s vision statements and strategic issues for fiscal year 2001. It was assumed the department was already using maintenance standards until the Internet revealed what the term actually represented.
The Real Definition
Maintenance standards identify what facilities and structures should look like with proper maintenance. The Internet had little information on “park-maintenance standards,” but there was a great deal related to industry maintenance standards. So, we began the long process of developing our own “park-maintenance standards.”
