Organizational Structure

Recreation Director works under the direction of Town Manager, and meets regularly with Recreation Commission. The Director manages one full time position, the Assistant Director, 12 part time seasonal staff members, and approximately 30 volunteers.

Program Description

The purpose of the Provincetown Recreation Department is to provide and maintain as many year-round recreational opportunities as possible while ensuring that they are affordable and of quality to all Provincetown Residents and community members. Thus, a full complement of services and classes are offered to children and adults. As COVID-19 restrictions ease and we revert to a pre-pandemic way of life, the Provincetown Recreation Department is seeing an increase in the need for more recreational programming and facilities, for all ages.

Adult Recreation in Provincetown is well exceeding pre-pandemic numbers, the community continues to express their strong recreational wants and needs as we improve our facilities. Currently, the Provincetown Recreation Department is handling two substantial planning projects, developing a water-front park, and creating a Master Plan for Motta Field. Through these two major planning projects, the community is expressing their desire for more adequate recreational facilities that can provide a vast number of recreational opportunities such as pickleball, outdoor fitness, a walking track, basketball, skateboarding, etc. Throughout the visioning process of Motta Field, it is the goal to provide as many recreational opportunities as possible to the community, but implementation of the plan will be crucial. The Provincetown Recreation Department also acknowledges that with great recreational facilities, they must be managed correctly to ensure they are being used to their full capacity.

In addition to facilities that accommodate the need for recreational opportunities, the department offers a wide variety of adult programming classes at the Veteran’s Memorial Community Center such as aerobics, yoga, Stretch-And -Tone, pickle ball, Billiard’s night, dance classes, CPR certification, adult dodgeball, adult pickup basketball, soccer, and softball. The department is also able to host many recovery meetings at the community center such as AA and ALANON twice per week. In addition, CMA, OA, Smart Recovery and Clutterers Anonymous are all held once per week. The Community Center also provides a safe public space for other meetings, play rehearsals and other events

Along with Adult programming, our mission is to continue to provide great youth programming, to supplement the Provincetown School system and to help retain families here in Provincetown. The department offers the following children’s activities: afterschool programming, a summer program, basketball, soccer, t-ball, softball, flag football, dance classes, instructional basketball programs, floor hockey, movie nights and many field trips to see shows or sporting events.

Along with the programs, classes and meetings listed above, the Recreation Department also organizes the following: Fourth of July Parade, Halloween Greet n’ Treat event, Halloween Parade, Portuguese Festival Fishing Derby, Portuguese Festival Field Games, the Egg Hunt at the Pilgrim Monument, Seasonal Holiday events, Run to the Top and Battle of the Badges.

Budget Statement

As described in the program description above, the Recreation Departments primary focus is creating passive and active recreation for all community members. The department’s focus in years past has been providing in person community services to both the adult and youth community. In addition to providing in in person services, the Department has been tasked with large planning projects to update some of the recreational facilities, such as the Cannery Wharf Waterfront Park, West End Playground and courts, and Motta Field. With such an exuberant added responsibility to the Department, with only two full time employees, and a handful of seasonal employees, there is now a great need to supplement staffing.

Along with the compensation study implementation, and the increase to schedule C staffing, the personal budget does present as having a modest increase. Also, along with those increases this budget includes an increase request to fund more part time staffing and more contracted services, in an effort to provide more programming at VMCC. Instead of creating another position to handle such duties, we are separating the costs into three sections. First will be the added cost to part time staffing, which we envision having part time staff extend their day until 8pm,five days per week, to ensure the building has staffing coverage for the evening adult programs. The second part will provide stipends for each season of the year, to coordinate the adult programs each season base on community needs. A $1,000 stipend will be provided for each season’s worth of adult programming, this person will handle communication of the programs, and registration. The third request is to provide fund for instructors to teach children activities, during the winter months, to provide more resources to families. Families have expressed hardships for their children to attend instructor based activities, such as gymnastics, citing the lack of availability on the lower cape. The nearest Gymnastics course is in Yarmouth, which is not feasible for all of our families.

This budget is presented as an effort to make the department more efficient, by creating more access to programs and facilities. As the town continues to pave the process forward to create better recreational facilities, the Town needs to start preparing for more staffing costs as these facilities are developed. As its presented in this budget, the recreation department is requesting more funds to assist with staffing, by presenting it in a creative way to avoid the “Full Time” position, but eventually I envision larger staffing increases as the facilities are developed. As stated above, staffing will be needed to ensure the maximum potential is fulfilled once these facilities are developed, as more and more community members are getting engaged in active recreation in Provincetown.

Major Accomplishments for 2022

● Planned and implemented a 2022 Summer Program

● Completed a Final Design for Cannery Wharf Park, along with securing funding for Construction at Annual town meeting.

● Secured a Land Water Conservation Fund Grant in the amount of $750,000 to offset the cost of Cannery Wharf Construction.

● Created a updated Recreation Section for the Open Space and Recreation Plan

● Initiated the Motta Field Planning Process, Developing a working group whom selected Weston and Sampson to lead the Planning process.

● Resurfaced Motta Field Tennis Courts

FY 2024 Objectives

• Complete Motta Field Master Plan
• Identify Funding for for the Motta Field Master Plan
• Complete permitting and award bidding for Cannery Wharf Construction
• Secure Funding through CPA to replace fence at West End Playground
• Decide the future path of the Skate Park
• Bolster Adult Programming opportunities