Initial Commitment
"Our parks system is unusually dependent on a single source of funding compared to park systems in our peer cities. We need to find new ways to finance programs so residents can have greater access to these resources. Other cities have found new funding sources by creating citywide park improvement districts and by creating business improvement districts around parks, identifying sponsorship opportunities, and developing more robust public-private partnerships to support our parks." (Policy Platform page 46)
Status
In Progress
Most Recent Update (Summer 2022)
In progress. Mayor's Office is currently researching best practices in leveraging public-private partnerships and philanthropic resources to fund park and recreation system activities. This includes collaboration with the non-profit arms of the park system, greenways system, and individual parks.
In April 2022 Mayor Cooper announced a partnership agreement between Metro Parks Department and The Nashville Food Project to provide long term tenure for the organization’s community garden programs at the Mill Ridge Park in Antioch. The new 5-year agreement would allow for the park to be used by The Nashville Food Project, a local non-profit dedicated to ensuring all people have access to the food they want and need, to develop and operate community gardens and education. This agreement also allows for the sale of produce to benefit The Nashville Food Project’s program participants.
Previous Update (Fall 2021)
Assessing feasibility. One example of success: In June 2020, Metro accepted a $465,000 in-kind grant from the Historic Capitol Corridor Foundation to renovate and add programming to Church Street Park. A revamped Church Street Park reopened in June 2021.
Another example of contributions from the private sector is the riverfront park and greenway that Oracle Corporation will create as part of their new site on the East Bank.