Parks Department up for award

Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department is a finalist for the 2004 National Gold Medal Award presented by the American Academy for Parks and Recreation Administration and the National Recreation Park Association. \nBloomington has been a finalist for three consecutive years, and four years total for this award which honors communities throughout the United States for excellence in park and recreation administration. \n"Just being a finalist is an honor," said Mick Renneisen, director of the Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department. "To know that we have been a finalist three years in a row tells us that we are doing something right."\nBloomington is a community placing a high degree of value on being active. This has challenged Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department to meet the expectations of the community with innovative programs, a variety of hiking and biking trails, and many other parks and activities. \nThis year all finalists must submit a video showing who they are and what makes their parks department. Over the past years, the Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department has been in the midst of improving its facilities. Now that these improvements are finished, their video can show the finished products that are making the community happy.\nSophomore Micha Siegel, an avid bike rider at Wapehani Mountain Bike Park, feels the bike trails Bloomington Parks and Recreation provides sets them apart from other city parks departments.\n"Bloomington offers a variety of trails for every different kind of rider," Siegel said. "Whether you are a first-time rider or an experienced one, there is a trail with the level of difficulty that is right for you." \nVariety is just what Bloomington Parks and Recreation hopes to provide to its community. \n"Bloomington is such a diverse community," said Renneisen. "I feel that Bloomington Parks and Recreation provides a wide array of activities that appeal to different people that collectively represent our community."\nAccording to Renneisen support from a political aspect has been a great deal of help to the Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department. \n"City Council recognizes the value of parks and recreation in this community and gives us a great deal of funding and support," said Renneisen.\nMayor Mark Kruzan, who has been in office since January, takes full advantage of the Bloomington parks. \n"I live across from Griffy Lake, and I benefit from the parks everyday," said Kruzan. "I am new, and I am proud to see just how much effort every parks department employee puts in to this community."\n-- Contact staff writer Monica Dix at mcdix@indiana.edu.