2021 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report

eight venues. With the success of the national festival, the City has continued the event as a statewide, admission free festival, funded by sponsorships, donations and fees paid by participating vendors. The City celebrated with the three-day North Carolina Folk Festival in 2018 and 2019 and in 2020 was held virtually due to the pandemic. 2021 returned to an in-person festival widely attended.

The eastern entrance to the City showcases the newest addition to Greensboro’s collection of beautiful parks and gardens, Gateway Gardens , another public/private venture which will ultimately spanning 11 acres. Phase I of the $8 million project has been completed and includes the main entrance and a 5,100 square-foot Visitor’s Center along with rain garden, pond, children’s garden and heritage garden with unique public artwork displayed throughout the park. Phase II will include a Japanese garden, wedding and special event garden and white oak forest. This project is funded with $2.5 million in City bond funds, $2 million in private contributions and a $500,000 grant. In 2020, the City’s Parks and Recreation Department received the National Gold Award for Excellence by the American Academy for Parks and Recreation Administration and the National Recreation and Parks Association. For the fourth time in the department’s history, the City received this award, the highest honor in the industry. The award recognizes organizations that demonstrate excellence in long-range planning, resource management, and innovative approaches to delivering outstanding parks and recreation services with fiscally sound business practices. This award was particularly meaningful at a time when the department worked passionately to develop and implement creative and impactful initiatives for citizen engagement through healthy, equitable and vibrant connections. Just a few examples include the Parks Passport program, Discover your Park scavenger hunt in minority-majority neighborhoods, and the Keeley Park expansion and replacement of the existing playground with Greensboro’s first inclusive playground – Up in the AIR (Adaptive and Inclusive Recreation) designed for all bodies and abilities. The new playground is one of many improvements at the park, which is now one of the largest in Greensboro. The department responded to the critical need for exceptional programs and cultural experiences to prioritize and ensure that outdoor spaces are continually accessible and equitable. In July 2019, the Piedmont Discovery App was launched. This mobile application, designed and managed by the City of Greensboro, City of High Point and Guilford County, is an interactive park and trail app created to search hundreds of local parks, trails and recreational opportunities. The app allows users to find outdoor amenities like trails, playgrounds or dog parks, as well as indoor recreational facilities. App users can search for parks and trails near them, find directions, connect with websites and explore trails based on difficulty and terrain. The City’s Parks and Recreation Department has been accredited by the Commission for Accreditation of Parks and Recreation Agencies (“CAPRA”) since 2006. The Department is currently one of only 192 agencies in the United States to receive the national accreditation, which shows the

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