City of Yorkton - Community Development, Parks & Recreation

Director:	Darcy McLeod
Office Hours:	Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
E-mail:
Phone:	(306) 786-1750
Fax:	(306) 786-6880
Street Address:	37 – Third Avenue North
Mailing Address:	Community Development, Parks & Recreation Department City of Yorkton Box 400 Yorkton, SK S3N 2W3

What we do?

The Community Development, Parks & Recreation department has set its mandate as follows:

Community Development Branch:
The underlying objective behind the Community Development Branch is to provide the support environment and capacity that empowers members of the community to do for themselves. Community Development is defined as a process in which people of a community organize themselves for planning and action. It is a process for changing communities toward desired goals and emphasizes a concern for active participation and involvement by citizens through a coordinated effort. A visible and resource effective application of this model is the provision of parks and recreation services at the community level.

The Community Development Branch provides leadership development, organizational development, and volunteer support services. This Branch will support, advise on, organize or participate in public initiatives conducted for the purpose of: supporting volunteer capacity; leadership development of youth; building partnerships between organizations; and information sharing. Grant programs whose purpose is to assist volunteer, community-based organizations to deliver sport, culture, recreation, and park programs are administered through this Branch. These services are available to non-profit, volunteer, community-based organizations that deliver sport, culture, parks and recreation programs within the city.

This Branch is also responsible for working with the Newcomer Settlement Committee to ensure new residents to Yorkton have access to sport, culture, parks and recreation services.

Recreation Services Branch:
The mandate of the Recreation Services Branch is to get city residents to participate in recreation activities of their choice. The Branch works within the community to ensure that a broad range of sport, culture, parks, and recreation opportunities are available and affordable to a broad spectrum of our residents and visitors.

The Recreation Services Branch is responsible for the design and delivery of programs and services. To encourage repeat customers and attract new clientele, staff spends time getting to know their customer in order to offer choices that meet their needs (package, place, product, and price). Informed and responsive staff provide reception, registration, and booking services for Department operated facilities.

The Recreation Services Branch also manages recreation facilities (Deer Park Municipal Golf Course, Kinsmen Arena, Gloria Hayden Community Centre, Godfrey Dean Cultural Centre, Yorkton Public Library as well as the Tourism/Chamber of Commerce Building) to support those activities delivered by the city, non-profit groups, and other community recreation service providers. Provision of safe, well-maintained, attractive and accessible program venues is key to the success of meeting the needs of recreation and community service providers who operate programs at the Department operated facilities.

Parks & Arena Branch:
The Parks Branch is responsible for the maintenance and preservation of the City of Yorkton parks and open spaces. This is accomplished by utilizing horticultural maintenance standards, maintenance contracts and policy development.

Emergency Preparedness Planning:
Should an emergency situation arise in our city, be it severe weather or other community disaster, a range of community organizations must pull together to provide a coordinated response. The Department of Community Development, Parks & Recreation works with those agencies to ensure Yorkton is ready to respond in the event of a major emergency or disaster.