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Missoula Parks and Recreation (2018) Print
2018 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Public places
└ Park enhancements
└ Park enhancements
To improve public health and increase residents' physical activity, the City of Missoula launched the Rx Trails program. Through the initiative, the local Parks and Recreation Department partners with local health care providers encourage patients to walk. The City worked to designate a path through McCormick Park as an Rx trail -- pathways featuring amenities including, drinking fountains, benches and accessible parking. They installed two benches and posted a map to help visitors navigate the trail. Additionally, they distributed promotional materials to residents to inform them about Rx Trails.
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Dyersville, IA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2019
Project Category: Public space improvements to support recovery after extreme weather events
Description: As part of an efforts to recover from a flood, this project created a community plaza and amphitheater in Dyersville. The green space links to a walking and biking trail, which is connected to the city's downtown riverwalk. To make the new plaza accessible, project organizers added diagonal parking, made accessibility upgrades to crosswalks, created new sidewalks and built a stage and canopy onsite. Today the site hosts a market, concerts and movie nights. It is also a venue for Beyond the Game events -- a gathering marking Dyersville's baseball history as the site of the Field of Dreams.
Scarborough, ME
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: This project enhanced three community gardens, two of which are used exclusively to feedundernourished residents, as well a program that provides supplemental heating assistance and home repairs to older adults.
Cascade, MT
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Park enhancements
Description: The Town of Cascade created an accessible picnic area in North Railroad Park, within walking distance of many local amenities. Town staff poured a concrete pad for the site, where they installed a walled seating area with two ADA-compliant picnic tables and a new flagpole. The local garden club lent a hand by filling at the site planters with flowers. Each year, the Town evaluates the accessibility of the projects it undertakes, and town leaders are committed to providing gathering spaces where residents of all abilities can gather.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Missoula, MT
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Roadway/sidewalks/crosswalk improvement
Description: Missoula's Transportation Planning hoped to improve safety at a busy intersection in the Riverfront neighborhood, while also giving people a space to gather. First, project organizers asked residents and local business owners for their ideas to improve the streetscape. Ahead of activating the intersection, the city's public works department made upgrades to pavement and water mains. Based on community feedback, Missoula Transportation Planning then created bulb-outs, which extend the curb into the intersection, giving pedestrians extra space, making them more visible to drivers and shortening the distance needed to cross the road. Curb ramps make the crosswalks accessible. To create a seating area, they also created two parklets -- mini-parks that fit in the footprint of on-street parking spaces. The parklets featured art, a space to park bikes and decorative foliage.
Missoula, MT
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2017
Project Category: Roadway/sidewalks/crosswalk improvement
Description: Missoula County officials hoped to demonstrate options for improved pedestrian access to East Missoula's downtown. Staff and volunteers put out straw bales, planters and trees to calm traffic, as well as create a temporary bike and walking path near a popular store and service station. They also set up a pop-up park. They also set up an area with picnic tables, canopies and umbrellas. Food trucks and a banner helped attract visitors to the event, along with sidewalk games, face painting and mural making. Attendees could see how possible future safety improvements would work and were invited to provide feedback. Project organizers report the demonstration helped secure buy-in from nearby business owners, who had previously expressed skepticism about changes to the streetscape. Since the event, the County has working to permanently implement the interventions envisioned during the event, including forming long-term plans to reconstruct a major highway corridor.
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