New Fort Smith parks and recreation chief discusses challenges, amenity expansions

Sara Deuster is officially the director of parks and recreation for the city of Fort Smith, having served as the interim director for more than eight months. Her initial challenges, if not ongoing issues, are managing through park expansions and maintenance with a labor shortage.

City Administrator Carl Geffken announced Deuster’s promotion at the board of directors’ March 8 meeting. Her annual salary is $101,441.60.

Deuster, who has worked for the city since January 2014, holds the job formerly held by Doug Reinert. Reinert was the city’s head of parks from April 2015 until June, when he left to become city administrator for Fairfield, Iowa. Deuster was named the interim director after Reinert’s resignation.

“We are pleased to announce Sara Deuster’s promotion from interim director to director of parks and recreation for the City of Fort Smith. Sara’s unwavering dedication to creating a more inclusive parks system underscores her commitment to enhancing our city’s parks for citizens of all abilities. Her proven leadership and ability to translate community needs and feedback into actionable projects are just a couple of the many reasons she was appointed to this role,” Geffken said.

Taking on the position just as the temperature warms highlights one of the challenges the parks department continually faces, Deuster said. While the department has the year-round challenge of staying fully staffed for a variety of reasons, staffing shortages during late spring to early fall are especially difficult because that is when maintenance staff works to keep a seven-day turnaround time for lawn maintenance, she said.

“Our department is fortunate to have several veteran, tenured staff who help compensate for staffing shortages. The decades of knowledge and field expertise of these employees allows us to hire individuals with less experience who have a willingness to develop and advance their skills,” she said. “Through this shift, we have seen our employees become more public service driven, taking pride in their work and recognizing the positive impact the work they do has on the community.”

PARK ACCESS FOCUS
Another challenge Deuster sees is managing the extensive number of projects the city has in progress.

“We have upwards of $20 million in projects currently in progress. Shifting gears amongst these projects has been challenging at times,” she said.

The parks department has several projects under construction and in the final design phase that encompass a variety of park amenities from play features, trails and greenways, aquatics, sports courts, and general infrastructure improvements. Though all those projects can present a challenge, Deuster is excited about them.

“Any project that offers an opportunity for our department to advance our commitment to inclusivity rather than mere accessibility is at the top of my list (of ones I’m excited about),” she said. “We have minimum standards we must meet to ensure citizens have access to park amenities. However, I believe we do ourselves an injustice if we stop at meeting those minimum requirements when there is an opportunity to employ inclusive design. Taking an inclusive design approach to park projects challenges us to identify and implement ways to ensure individuals of all abilities can not only access an amenity but also be able to use the amenity alongside others. Essentially, we are actively finding ways to break the barrier between watching and having an opportunity to engage with others.”

Deuster is particularly excited about the new splash pad coming to Martin Luther King Jr. Park. This splash pad will feature a unique design element in that the waterslide will have a cove on one of its sides that offers steady rainfall. While that feature is fun for children, Deuster said the most exciting part is that the steady rainfall area will be able to serve as a calming space for children who may become overwhelmed by the “chaos” of natural play.

“Children can go to this area to have a break from the sounds of play while remaining within and utilizing the splash pad. Without this feature, children would not have the opportunity to still utilize the splash pad when they need a break from the sounds of play,” she said.

CAROL ANN CROSS, CREEKMORE WORK
Another project is the Carol Ann Cross Park Greenway & Boardwalk. Carol Ann Cross Park has the unique benefit of including a lake, fishing docks, kayak rentals, upcoming inclusive playground, wooded area and soon an extension to the Arkansas River.

“This is the only City park that offers this variety of amenities. The area the new greenway and boardwalk encompasses is not highly utilized because it is difficult to travel. This project removes that barrier and provides an accessible path up to an overlook area of the Arkansas River,” Deuster said. “This is the first boardwalk we have installed, and it will be built to last a lifetime. I look forward to seeing this project complete and doing the final walkthrough before opening it to the public for use.”

Deuster also is prioritizing finalizing the Creekmore Park Pool Bathhouse and Diving Well Enclosure project. The existing bathhouse at the Creekmore pool has served its purpose for 75 years, but it is beyond its lifespan, Deuster said.

“There is a lot of history with the bathhouse, and we have plans to preserve some of that history with this project. Not only will these improvements better support the operations of the City’s only public swimming pool, but they will also help solidify Fort Smith as the premier host site in the state for long course swim meets,” she said.

Construction of the project will take approximately one year. Deuster said they are on schedule for a May 2025 completion date.

CAPTURING AND USING FEEDBACK
Along with helping to bring parks projects to fruition, Deuster has another goal for the department – to collect quality feedback throughout the community to plan and prioritize projects.

“While maintaining and addressing existing infrastructure is a priority, we need to ensure how we do this aligns with the current needs of our community,” she said. “For example, we are converting two of the tennis courts at Tilles Park to basketball courts because there is a greater need for additional basketball courts at that park. We recognize individuals still utilize the tennis courts, which is why the other two courts will remain as tennis courts.”

Deuster said the city has a new platform in the works that will allow administration to better collect citizen input. The new platform will be introduced in the coming weeks, she said.

“I think citizen education is another area I want to change in the future. Specifically, I want to change how we view trails and greenways. When people hear the word ‘trails’ they often think of avid cyclists and runners. However, the projects our department has planned are really greenways,” she said.

Greenways focus on linkages, or connections. These connections can be around the city, to nature areas (as in the Carol Ann Cross Park project), and to major destinations, such as shopping malls or parks, Deuster said.

“What is important now is to change the perception and provide educational opportunities to allow citizens to gain an understanding of why greenways are important and how they can benefit everyone in our city,” she said.

The Maybranch Greenway (formerly termed a “trail”) will serve as the catalyst for this initiative as it begins construction. This greenway will connect Riverfront Drive, Martin Luther King, Jr. Park, Creekmore Park, and the Kelley Park Ballfields with shopping centers, food venues, a library, and more along the way.