Medford Parks & Recreation Foundation

Medford Parks & Recreation Foundation
Sports Park Foundation Offers Donation
Opportunities and Top Naming Rights

In 2005, Brian Sjothun initiated his vision to establish a non-profit charitable foundation to support the overall goals of a comprehensive master plan for parks and recreation facilities and programs. In doing so, the director of parks & recreation for the City of Medford created the Medford Parks & Recreation Foundation to help meet community needs in times of challenging fiscal constraints.

Sjothun’s experience with the Woodburn Together Foundation provided the groundwork. “As a foundation we can pursue grants that we are not eligible for as the City of Medford,” Sjothun explains. “We can also engage additional volunteers and provide a structured system for stewardship of contributions.”

Through comprehensive planning, citizen surveys, visioning meetings and hard work from volunteers who serve on the Parks & Recreation Commission and City Council, the City has updated its Leisure Services Plan and prioritized the community’s needs and desires. One thing that became evident was the immediate need for more playing fields to accommodate a wide range of organized and recreational sports.

Medford is the last metropolitan city in southern Oregon to undertake developing a sports park, with Grants Pass, Klamath Falls and Ashland having already completed construction. “The reason for the delay in Medford is that as its population has grown and construction costs increased faster than revenue. As a result, the City faced deficiencies in park development city-wide,” says Sjothun.

To move the sports park plan forward, the City secured a historical and unique 132-acre site between Interstate 5 and Highway 99. Formally known as Heitkamp Ranch, this section of land is where Bear Creek bisects the park and is full of natural vegetation and mature trees.

The Bear Creek Greenway is currently under construction within the park and will provide a link between the park and the remainder of the corridor from Ashland to Central Point. When completed, this site will be 10 times the size of Hawthorne Park to become the largest developed park inside the city limits — essentially the “Central Park” for Medford.

Although the land was purchased with bonds paid from the lodging tax, funds for park development are still required. Therefore, a local consulting firm conducted a philanthropic feasibility study to help determine where the project would rank in the hierarchy of community needs, and how a capital campaign should be designed. Results confirmed that such a permanent asset to our community ranked high among individuals and businesses, and that an initial capital campaign goal of $3 to $5 million should be set. To honor supporters and contributors, elements within the park will bear their name, with top naming rights of the park being offered at $1.5 million.

The foundation’s first official contribution of $10,000 arrived at the end of last summer when long-time corporate sponsor U.S. Cellular hosted a reception for the season’s final Movie in the Park. Then, as 2005 came to a close, local homebuilders Michael and Louis Mahar donated a 1.57-acre parcel of land in east Medford (valued at $780,000), which became an addition to the public park system. Currently, volunteers are raising funds to support several projects in the parks, including the expansion of tennis courts.

Medford Parks & Recreation Foundation

Additional supporters have also come forward, including Pacific Power, Medford Water Commission and regional Rotary clubs who created the Centennial Campaign to mark a century of service by supporting the Rotary Bridge, Rotary (Softball) Field and the Bear Creek Greenway as their collective project. Another $100,000 was contributed from an anonymous individual.

The City of Medford also instituted a small tax on car rentals at the Rogue Valley Medford International Airport. The added revenue will help finance the next phase of development, including a four-field softball/baseball complex in the southeast corner to be constructed in 2007.

Although it is widely recognized that sports games and tournaments will have a significant economic impact, Sjothun and other proponents of the Sports and Community Park believe that project’s value far exceeds the development of an organized sports center. It is also a place where families and visitors gather to enjoy picnics, playgrounds, trails and other low-impact activities within the third of the park that is reserved for such civic park use.

In keeping with environmental sensitivity, the City has also entered into a contract with the Jefferson Nature Center. This non-profit organization is working to raise funds to remodel the existing old farmhouse that sits on the proposed site. The Center will partner with other agencies to bring on-site community educational programs, environmental stewardship and community gardens to the park. A separate agreement with the non-profit Medford Youth Baseball Society allows them to raise their own funds for the construction and management of the Harry & David Baseball Field.

To this end, a plan to seek philanthropic support is also being put into action. The new Medford Parks & Recreation Foundation, Chaired by Craig Stone of Medford, will play an indispensable role in the development of this major community asset and other facilities and programs for generations to come.

To donate or for more information, visit www.ci.medford.or.us or call 541-774-2400.