SPRINGFIELD — Willamalane Park and Recreation District, the name an amalgamation of our county and the valley it sits in, turns 75 years old in September.

William Fort, a circuit court judge and Lane County district attorney, originally conceived of the Springfield park system in the early 1940s for a specific population: young men. Fort felt it could help alleviate growing social and legal issues with boys whose fathers and mentors were overseas fighting in World War II.

From this narrow focus, Willamalane has expanded to meet the needs of all community members, from preschoolers as young as 3 to senior citizens celebrating the legacy of women in World War II.

A plan for the park district developed over three years, and, with the adoption of a formal charter on Sept. 29, 1944, the Willamalane Park and Recreation District was born.

Willamalane, a publicly funded nonprofit organization, has matured over the past 75 years into a model of diverse success. With 46 parks, five major facilities and more than 2,000 acres of parks and natural areas serving more than 1.8 million people annually, Willamalane’s biggest concern is how to continue to satisfy the various needs of such a large, varied client base.

“We have something for the entire cycle of a community’s life,” Superintendent Michael Wargo said. “We don’t tell the people what they want. We listen to what patrons want and they tell us what programming is going to be like.”

This includes approximately 500 programs a year offered by Willamalane with an estimated 200 of those as new or developing programs based on patron desires. This includes dog obedience classes, smoking cessation through hypnotherapy, adapting to technology for seniors and adventure parties for kids.

“You can play basketball in the morning, learn how to create YouTube videos in the afternoon and then take a backyard poultry class in the evening,” Wargo said.

This breadth of programming can come at a cost, however. If not enough people attend or utilize services, cuts have to be made. The woodworking studio at Willamalane’s Adult Activity Center, for example, is going from offering classes four days a week down to two. This can be tough on people like Susan Thames who utilizes the studio for home improvement projects.

One of Thames' first big plans was to fill a large empty space in her kitchen. After taking exact measurements, Thames took them into the studio, where she and instructor Mitch Hutchinson designed a storage closet. After obtaining the materials, Hutchinson guided Thames in her construction at the woodworking studio until they’d put together “a big, giant closet.”

“I brought it home, but it took me two weeks to move it from the garage into kitchen because I was worried it wouldn’t fit,” Thames said. “When I finally brought it inside, it slid right into place and fit like a glove.”

The woodworking shop will help anyone with any project within reason as long as it’s not a commercial venture. Thames’ projects also include wooden pens with popup boxes, floating tables and renovating an oak table her stepson in Portland was throwing away.

“They were going to put it in the trash because they didn’t know what to do with it,” Thames said. “Now it’s this beautiful restored table in my house.”

Class or hours cutbacks can be especially tough for people like Thames who frequent Willamalane for a specific program. While Willamalane sympathizes with those affected by cutbacks, the organization obligates itself to an efficient use of funding.

“Unfortunately, every program has a shelf life,” Wargo said. “Taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay for a program for just a few individuals.”

According to Bryan Beban, Resource Development Coordinator at Willamalane, one of the biggest challenges is reaching so many different clients and promoting such a wide variety of programs.

“One of the biggest things that we can offer is access to programs that people want. The question is how to get the right people into the right programs.”

Sometimes, that just comes to listening to people.

"We weren’t even talking about pickleball a couple of years ago," Wargo said. "Now it's our most popular program."

One of the best tools and best ways to reach community members has been the district's adoption of technology and social media.

“Not too long ago, we used mailers and meetings in order to get feedback from people,” Wargo said.

It might take a few weeks or a few months just to get something changed. Now, with full access from social media feeds, comments and criticism come at the speed of fiber optics.

“We want to be as accessible as possible,” Wargo said. “If there’s a repair that needs to get done, or a new idea gets put on Facebook, we want to respond immediately.”

Being a publicly funded nonprofit organization allows Willamalane to establish its own budget without having to share with the multitude of other programs in Springfield's municipal pie.

Approximately 70 percent of money for programs and repairs comes from a Springfield property tax levy that costs property owners $2 per $1,000 of the assessed property value. About 30 percent of Willamalane’s operating budget is derived from operations revenue. Revenue includes concessions, grants, sponsorships, donations, recreation fees, membership fees and facility rentals. Springfield residents do not generally pay membership fees and receive discounted rates for classes and programs.

For the fiscal year 2019, this amounts to a $16.3 million operating budget. This approximates $9.5 million from levied property taxes, $4.4 million in revenue and $2.4 million carried over from previous years.



In addition, a fall 2012 voter-approved $20 million bond measure funds the expansion of a number of outdoor recreation projects. This includes expanding trails, preserving parkland, rivers and streams, energy conservation projects and embracing a responsibility as land stewards.

The Bureau of Land Management, for example, owns the Thurston land adjacent to a Willamalane-developed nature trail. The BLM, however, is required to clear cut that wood every 10 years or so. Willamalane filed a protest with the city of Springfield to object to the clearing of recreational land and was able to negotiate a reduction from 150 down to 100 harvested acres.

“There’s still going to be eight miles of brand new trails there,” Wargo said. “There will still be some canopy and tree cover. At the end day, we’re thrilled at these new trails and the first mountain bike access in the area.”

This goes to Wargo’s dedication to aligning Willamalane’s park system to the three pillars of the National Recreation and Park Association: health and wellness, conservation and social equity.

In order to observe this dedication and celebrate the park systems participation in Lane County over the past 75 years, Willamalane is offering an array of special events throughout 2019.

“Seventy-five years from now,” Wargo said, "I want members who are observing the 150th anniversary of Willamalane to look back on what we did and celebrate the things that we did now that led them to a prosperous future."

Follow Matthew on Twitter @MatthewDDenis. Email mdenis@registerguard.com.