Parks & Recreation Department - Administration

Park Planning

Chesapeake Parks and Recreation acquires land for future parks through purchase, subdivision requirements, and donations. The department's Park Planner, Lennie Luke, works with real estate agents, developers, architectural and engineering firms, citizens, and state and federal officials to acquire, master plan, and develop these properties into future parks. In addition, park planning duties include working on park and environmental issues with various departments such as Planning, Public Works, the Geographic Information System ( GIS) committee, and the Chesapeake Historic Preservation Committee.

Currently, the Dr. Clarence V. Cuffee Community Center is being erected in the Campostella area of the city. This facility will have the finest recreation amenities anywhere in the area, as well as providing another library for Chesapeake citizens all under the same roof.

The Centerville Turnpike Park site is planned to open on March 1, 2007. Initially the park will contain eleven (11) multi-purpose fields, with Phase II of the project encompassing other elements such as a Dog Park, BMX & Skate Park , as well as many others.

At present, the city has approximately 1646 district, 186 community, and 236 neighborhood park acres, for a total of 2068 park acres. Additional information on size, acquisition, and development standards of various parks can be found in the Master Plan, "A Window into the Year 2010... A Plan for Parks and Recreation", located in the central library's reference section. The 2010 Plan is currently being updated.