Minneapolis Park Board awarded national gold medal: ‘You should be proud of this park system’

Minneapolis parks staff have finally made it back to the winner’s podium.

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board has been awarded the national gold medal for excellence in park and recreation management for the first time in 35 years, the board announced Wednesday.

The award, given by the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration, is presented to park systems around the country that demonstrate excellence in parks and recreation.

“To say that I’m incredibly proud of that is an understatement,” said Minneapolis Park Board Superintendent Al Bangoura. “You look across all of the agencies across the nation, to be recognized as the best is incredibly prestigious.”

The top medal was a long time coming, according to Bangoura. Minneapolis hadn’t won the award since 1989. The last Minnesota city to win the award was St. Paul in 2005. Minneapolis was a finalist in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2021.

The award is given to staff that demonstrate excellence in parks and recreation through different areas like long-range planning, environmental stewardship and program development.

“It’s the work of all of our incredibly talented staff. They’re incredible, brilliant, wonderful people,” Bangoura said. “This is to congratulate everyone, our entire city, to say congratulations to all of you for your support, for your work and for your advocacy to be the best of the best.”

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board won the Class I Gold Medal for agencies with populations over 400,001, beating agencies from Lawrenceville, Ga.; Tampa, Fla.; and Shawnee Mission, Kan., just outside of Kansas City, Mo.

Unlike other finalists, the Minneapolis Park Board has to deal with significant changes of seasons. But that doesn’t make running the parks more difficult, according to Bangoura, it makes it more “special.”

“When you come here, you say, ‘Listen, don’t sit in your house all winter. Get out and explore,’” he said. “And I think people really envy it, because they’re going, ‘Man, they get to enjoy all the seasons.’ And this park system offers that to the residents of Minneapolis, so it’s pretty unique.”

The board oversees 185 parks across the city, along with recreational activities like ice rinks, cross-country skiing, seven golf courses and more.