By Lee Reinsch
Correspondent
DE PERE – Closures and canceled programs due to the coronavirus pandemic cost the De Pere Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry more than $225,000 last year.
Paula Rahn, recreation superintendent for the parks department, spoke at the April 15 meeting of the board of park commissioners and thanked her staff for patience through the pandemic.
For most of the year, the De Pere Community Center was locked and business was conducted by appointment only, so use of the building was minimized.
Rental revenue was down 75 percent, from $38,435 in 2019 to $9,592 in 2020, according to the report.
One group, the ADRC, opted out of its contract with the city for its home delivery meal packaging program, and moved operations to the ADRC.
Facility usage for recreation programs decreased by 51 percent.
Revenue from aquatics programming was down nearly $62,000, from a little more than $103,000 in 2019 to just more than $38,000 in 2020, as pools were mostly closed except for small private groups.
Total revenue from programs was down about 50 percent, from around $314,000 in 2019 to about $147,000 in 2020.
Rahn said 2020 was “a very exasperating year” for the recreation department, with many changes required to deal with the pandemic.
“But staff continued to persevere even through the toughest of times and developed (and re-developed) COVID mitigation plans to safely provide recreational opportunities for the community in various formats,” she said in her report.
Some examples of new activity formats included virtual classes, events with smaller class numbers, outdoor classes and events, and pool reservations for open swim and lap swim.
New events to come out of the pandemic included outdoor bingo, online fitness classes, a virtual snowman contest, a virtual 5K walk/run, and a drive-thru Easter egg hunt.
Rahn said some other positives to come out of the experience include improved cleaning protocol and efficiencies through working remotely.
Park in the park
The city and a local business renewed a reciprocal agreement for parking lot usage for Voyageur Park, so park users will again be able to park in most parts of the lot overlooking the park.
The facility will replace the current restroom building, which the city has been talking about replacing for years.
Pitching in
The Wollins family is donating a practice basket, valued at $450, for the nine-hole disc golf course at Legion Park.
The Parks Department received a donation of $200 toward the annual Easter egg hunt hosted by the parks department from the De Pere Area Men’s Club.
This year’s egg hunt was a modified version held via drive-thru due to the pandemic.
Finally, resident Greta Johnson donated $2,500 to the Recreation Scholarship Fund.
It’s the third year Johnson has donated to the fund, said Marty Kosobucki, director of Parks, Recreation and Forestry.