Parks and Recreation Department Extends Master Plan Survey Deadline

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 4, 2015

For more information, please contact:
Mick Renneisen, Administrator, City of Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department, 812.349.3711 or [renneism@bloomington.in.gov|mailto:renneism@bloomington.in.gov]

Bloomington, Ind. - The City of Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department is about 100 surveys short of collecting enough feedback from a randomly selected group of Bloomington residents to have a statistically valid sample, so is extending the deadline to collect survey responses until Friday, June 26.

The [Master Plan,|http://bloomingtonmasterplan.com/] which will guide the Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department's priorities over the next five years, is needed not only to fulfill eligibility requirements for numerous grant awards, but also to ensure the Department is responsive to the needs of its community.

A randomly selected sample of 5,000 Bloomington residents, of all ages and backgrounds and from all parts of the city, received a postcard in the mail in mid-May, inviting them to use the unique survey code on the postcard and fill out the survey online. To date, only 218 surveys have been completed, so the Parks and Recreation Department has sent a reminder postcard to those who have not yet taken the survey, and extended the survey deadline to June 26. The original survey deadline was June 5.

"Every member of our community has a voice in how our Parks and Recreation Department plans for the future," said Mick Renneisen, Administrator of the Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department. "We know Bloomington takes a great deal of pride in its parks and in the programs the Department provides, and we want to know what our citizens want us to do in the future to keep it that way."

[The survey can be accessed online at bloomingtonmasterplan.com/survey|http://bloomingtonmasterplan.com/survey/] through both personal computers and public computer stations at the public library, and in the computer kiosk in the atrium of City Hall at 401 N. Morton St.

The Master Plan team is led by Indiana University's Eppley Institute for Parks and Public Lands, which has extensive experience guiding master planning projects for parks and recreation departments across the nation. Staff from the Eppley Institute, Bloomington Parks and Recreation, and several other city departments, as well as public and private stakeholders, serve on the master plan's technical review and steering committees.

For more information about Bloomington Parks and Recreation's Master Plan process, or to find out how to contribute opinions and ideas, contact The Eppley Institute at 812.855.3095 or e-mail eplyplan@indiana.edu.

###