In response to challenging budgets and a directive from City Council, Seattle Parks and Recreation met with community stakeholders and staff to develop a new plan for operating community centers in 2012. That work has resulted in a new tiered system for the centers, which reduces hours for nearly all sites.
In the new system, community centers are grouped into five geographic areas: southeast, southwest, central, northeast and northwest. The “tier 1” centers in each category will have the most open hours. They are managed and programmed in a coordinated fashion, which will help reduce operating costs while maintaining essential services. The system will save approximately $1.23 million in the 2012 budget. To find out the new hours for your neighborhood community center, visit this link.
Five limited use sites were established in 2011, which involved a significant drop in public operating hours. The new system partially or fully restores the current limited use sites. Hours for Teen Life Centers and Late Night Programs have also changed to address 2012 program funding. This effort will ensure programs are held when teens are out of school, add Saturday hours and sustain an increase in Teen Life Center participation. For more information on teen program changes, visit this link.
To learn more about the new tiered system for Seattle community centers, visit www.seattle.gov/parks/centers/operations.htm.
