Public input sought for Hickory parks and recreation master plan update

Help craft the future of recreation in Hickory. The City of Hickory is currently working to update its existing parks and recreation master plan to reflect the needs and desires of citizens today while planning thoughtfully for the future. 

A series of public input meetings will be held at various locations throughout the community to gather feedback and ideas from residents for the master plan update. Two meetings were held in May and two additional public input meetings will be held this month on the following dates:

• Monday, June 13: 4:30-6:30 p.m. at City Hall (Julian G. Whitener Municipal Building)
• Tuesday, June 14: 4:30-6:30 p.m. at the Kiwanis Park Picnic Shelter

Citizens are encouraged to make every effort to attend at least one of these upcoming meetings. Residents may drop by during these times to share their needs and desires for recreation amenities and programs. Kids activities and refreshments will be available. Participants may enter a drawing for prizes.

In the coming weeks, a statistically valid community survey will also be administered to gather further input from residents and community stakeholders. 

Known as the Recreation: Well Crafted 2023-2033 Comprehensive Parks & Recreation Master Plan or Parks, Recreation & Sports Tourism Plan, this exciting project will allow the City to harness current strengths and opportunities through extensive public input and alignment with the vision and needs of the City as identified in related tools such as the Hickory by Choice 2030 Comprehensive Plan. The duration of the project is estimated at one year.

The information in this new resource will reflect a robust gathering and synthesis of public input, demographic data, service levels, current assets, projected needs, benchmarks, trends in recreation, and universal design concepts for an executable 10-year action plan.

The resulting Parks, Recreation & Sports Tourism Plan will position the City of Hickory as a strong competitor for large-scale funding opportunities and future accreditation by the National Recreation & Park Association’s Commission for Accreditation of Park and Recreation Agencies (CAPRA). CAPRA accreditation is the highest recognition for use of best practices that can be given to a parks and recreation department and is a well-recognized mark of distinction for a community. 

Stay tuned to www.hickorync.gov and City social media channels for more information about how to help guide the future of parks, recreation, and sports tourism in the City of Hickory. For questions about the master plan update, please contact Natalie Jackson at 828-851-6473 or njackson@hickorync.gov.