Members of the Lawrence Parks and Recreation Advisory Board on Monday will hear a presentation on the city’s proposal to implement membership fees to use rec centers.
The city has not yet shared specific numbers for how much memberships would cost, and no details about the proposal were included in the meeting agenda as of Sunday afternoon.
The Parks, Recreation and Culture department is proposing charging fees as a way to offset its $1.8 million portion of the city’s projected budget shortfall of more than $6 million.
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.
Update:
• Lawrence city staff still not sharing proposed prices for rec center memberships, June 9, 2025
City staff members are asking the advisory board Monday to “Provide feedback on the proposed membership fee structure and associated programming approach.”
If the city does implement fees, they would likely go into effect in January. The city is not considering charging fees to access parks. (Read more about the plans in the article at this link and in the articles linked below.)
The board meets at 5:30 p.m. on the second Monday of each month at City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St. See the Monday, June 9 agenda at this link. Meetings are open to the public and livestreamed on the city’s YouTube channel at youtube.com/@lawrenceksvideo.
People can send written public comment to parksrec@lawrenceks.org until noon the day of meetings. The board also hears live public comment during meetings, both in person and virtually. Register to join the Zoom meeting at this link.
The city is planning two more “engagement pop-ups” to speak with community members about the proposed fees. One will be ongoing at the same time as the advisory board’s meeting:
• 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
An online survey the city launched to gather feedback on the proposal has closed.
If our local journalism matters to you, please help us keep doing this work.
Don’t miss a beat … Click here to sign up for our email newsletters
Click here to learn more about our newsletters first
This post is by the Lawrence Times news team.
If you have news tips, questions, comments, concerns, compliments or corrections for our team, please reach out and let us know what’s on your mind. Email us at Hello@LawrenceKSTimes.com (don’t forget the KS!), or find more contact info and a quick contact form at LawrenceKSTimes.com/contact.
Follow us so you won’t miss the local news that matters most to you:
More coverage:
Nathan Kramer / Lawrence Times
Nathan Kramer / Lawrence Times
Latest Lawrence news:
Maya Hodison/Lawrence Times
