The City of Lawrence is asking the community for feedback on plans to implement memberships and fees to use recreational facilities.
The Parks, Recreation and Culture department is proposing the fees as a way to offset its $1.8 million portion of the city’s projected budget shortfall of more than $6 million.
The city has not yet shared specific numbers for how much memberships would cost, but they would be part of the department’s plan. (Read more on the background in the article at this link and the articles linked below.)
The department has considered similar plans in recent years but did not move forward after community pushback. This year, however, the Lawrence City Commission has voiced some support for rec center fees early in the budget process.
There is an online survey available at this link with questions about which facilities people use and how often, how strongly they support or oppose membership fees and more.
Those who complete the survey have the option to give their name and email address to potentially participate in focus groups about the proposal.
The city is also planning four “engagement pop-ups” at rec centers:
• 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, May 27 at the East Lawrence Rec Center, 1245 E. 15th St.
• 8 to 10 a.m. Wednesday, May 28 at the Community Building, 115 W. 11th St.
• 5 to 7 p.m. Monday, June 9 at Holcom Park Rec Center, 2700 W. 27th St.
• 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 12 at Sports Pavilion Lawrence, 100 Rock Chalk Lane
The Parks and Rec department is tentatively planning to present a recommendation for membership fees to their advisory board on Monday, July 14, and then to the Lawrence City Commission on Tuesday, July 15.
If the city does implement fees, they would likely go into effect in January 2026.
The department has compiled a market comparison looking at costs of annual and household memberships in other cities. Individual annual memberships at rec centers that charge, for instance, range from $252 in Eudora to $600 in Olathe, according to the chart.
Here’s the comparison, via the city’s website (click here to open the PDF in a new tab):
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Nathan Kramer / Lawrence Times
