POOR MAINTENANCE

Park maintenance activities most commonly include:

* Repair or replacement of park infrastructure and facilities (e.g. fixing
playground equipment; removing graffiti from surfaces)
* Removal of trash
* Landscaping activities, including lawn mowing and management of
shrubbery and trees

Ineffective maintenance of parks and open spaces can stem from a lack of adequate funding or an inability to properly administer and schedule maintenance activities. Whatever the reason, the outcome is potentially the same - poor upkeep can seriously undermine the beneficial aspects and success of a park. A decline in the physical conditions of a park can:

* Weaken the aesthetic appeal of a space
* Create dangerous conditions for users (in the case of defective equipment)
* Decrease user's feelings of security

Because maintenance is such a necessary feature of parks management, administrators are seeking to ensure that maintenance activities are accomplished, even in the face of limited funding. For example, in Providence, where good maintenance is seen as the "glue" that holds a parks and recreation system together, several schemes have been introduced to alleviate the pressure on the Providence Parks Department in handling park upkeep. These include creating comprehensive maintenance manuals that dictate the frequency with which every type of park should be cared for, hiring employees on a seasonal basis to handle the increased maintenance load during certain seasons, setting up an "Adopt-a-Park" program where private entities take control of a park, and incorporating maintenance considerations into the renovation of existing parks and the design of new spaces.

Resources/Links:

'The role of maintenance in creating safer parks': http://pps.org/topics/parkuse/toronto_safety_4.adp