Endless summer

Clearwater honored as Florida's Sports Illustrated Sportstown

By Andrew Schulman

In 1985, when the residents and elected officials of Gwinnett County, Ga., decided to create and fund one unified parks and recreation department, they probably had no idea what that department would become.

Today, almost 20 years later, Gwinnett County Parks and Recreation (GCPR) is a thriving, beloved organization with support from all corners of the community. GCPR’s resulting success has also earned it the title of Sports Illustrated Sportstown for the state of Georgia.

At GCPR, everything starts and ends with teamwork.

“In Gwinnett, it’s the teamwork of the community that has enabled us to have success,” said Sharron Plunkett, GCPR’s Director. “From our residents and county officials to our community groups, youth athletic associations, local businesses and our dedicated staff and volunteers -- this is a total team effort.”

Following the creation and startup of the department, government officials, led by County Commission Chairman Wayne Hill, have several times proposed one percent taxes for the county that would fund GCPR’s operations, and each time, these levies have been overwhelmingly approved.

That money has allowed the department to expand Gwinnett’s parkland and help keep up with its tremendous population growth. The county, which has more than 650,000 residents today, has added approximately 25,000 people per year for the last decade and is expected to reach one million by 2020. To ensure that the Gwinnett County of 2020 remains as “green” as it is in 2004, the GCPR has grown the county’s parkland from 1,600 acres in 1996 to 7,343 acres today.

Another example of the community’s fervent support is the creation of the Gwinnett Parks Foundation. The foundation was organized in 2001 to work alongside the GCPR and improve the county’s recreation and parks program by involving private citizens, local businesses and the Gwinnett County Government. In just a short time, the foundation has organized several programs that have become extremely successful, including Adopt-A-Park and the Gwinnett Corporate Challenge -- an annual two-week sports competition for local companies that has raised more than $34,000 for the GCPR over the last four years.

All of this public and private support allows the GCPR to provide top-notch parklands, facilities and programming for Gwinnett’s residents, but it also means the department has a tremendous responsibility -- one it takes very seriously.

“We are the stewards of this funding that both the public and private sectors have agreed to allocate and we don’t take that lightly,” said Plunkett. “Our mission is to provide quality parks and leisure activities to the citizens of Gwinnett County and we involve the community at every step of our planning to make sure we’re keeping everything on track.”

Plunkett and her staff like to use the motto “Success plays here” to describe Gwinnett County, and from every possible vantage point, that phrase couldn’t be more apropos.