All told, local parks departments lost more than $1 million during the coronavirus pandemic.
Events were canceled, classes were suspended and facilities were closed for months last year, leaving local parks departments with few ways to make money.
The Franklin and Greenwood parks and recreation departments collectively lost about $1.4 million over the course of 2020 and in the first few months of 2021 due to drastically reduced user fee incomes.
Franklin parks lost $715,0000 in 2020 compared to what it made in 2019, said Chip Orner, director. Greenwood parks lost between $600,000 and $700,000 last year, said Rob Taggart, director.
Franklin parks may have lost more because the department had to issue refunds for summer camp fees and swimming lessons, which were deemed unsafe last year. The loss for those two programs alone is nearly $100,000, Orner said.
Greenwood parks continued its summer camp program and summer concert series by adding safety measures, Taggart said. Parks staff also started a YouTube channel called RecTV, to connect Greenwood residents to parks programming in their homes.
Even if the department lost money, being able to offer those programs to residents safely at a time when they needed them most was a win-win, Taggart said.
“This is the proudest I’ve been of our department and what we were able to achieve in the face of adversity,” Taggart said. “We were able to pivot … create RecTV, open Freedom Springs, have a concert series and a summer camp.”
Both departments said being able to open their pools for at least part of the season helped recover some losses.
Franklin Family Aquatics Center saw record revenues at the pool in both July and August, despite changes in operations to accommodate social distancing on the pool deck and in the concessions area. Those record months were a life raft, Orner said.
“If we had not opened the aquatics center, we would be completely devastated,” he said. “That $715,000 could have been a million.”
The decision to open Greenwood’s Freedom Springs to members drove some families to purchase a membership for the first time, an unexpected benefit, Taggart said.
For several months, parks facilities — even outdoor courts and playgrounds were closed. Most events and classes were canceled.
Losses were reported across the board at both departments, as every aspect of operations had to change and new expenses such as personal protective equipment and additional cleaning supplies were required.
Though most facilities reopened by July, there was less demand for services than normal, and group classes were slower to start back up.
Group fitness classes restarted at the Greenwood Community Center in October. More were added in November and January, but not all classes have resumed. The department plans to add classes back as time goes on, Taggart said.
In Franklin, Zumba, Tai Chi and a new class called Functionally Fit started up this week at the city’s recreation center for the first time in more than a year, Orner said.
Though parks facilities did not close again during the fall COVID-19 surge, people were more cautious about visiting; many did not come back until cases leveled off in mid-January, he said.
Both Franklin and Greenwood parks directors are seeing more patrons come back over time, and both report returning to somewhat normal attendance levels now.
If cases stay low, residents will likely be able to enjoy all the annual festivals, classes and services this year, directors said.
But both are working toward normal cautiously and with advice from the Johnson County Health Department.
Even when things are back to normal, the lost revenue from the pandemic will not come back on its own.
Federal reimbursements could help.
Both directors are working to quantify what was lost and prepare a request for aid through the $1.9 billion COVID-19 aid package that passed last month.
The new package provides $350 billion to the State and Local Government Fiscal Recovery Fund, which is set aside to make up revenue shortfalls caused by the pandemic.
