The Owensboro Parks and Recreation Department is committed to improving
the quality of life for all Owensboro residents by providing a wide variety
of leisure activities, special events, facilities and services that encourage
health, fitness, relaxation, enjoyment, and learning as well as providing opportunities
for community involvement and appreciation and care of the natural environment
and the provision of open space and parks.
Hillcrest Golf Course
Hillcrest Golf Course is a 9-hole
municipal golf course that is open year round. It is home to the Hillcrest
Golf Association and they hold four tournaments a year. Along with these
tournaments, Hillcrest is the host for the Annual Jr. Golf Tournament,
Senior Golf Tournament, Parent/Child Tournament, a Business League, and
several weekly scrambles. Lessons are taught to youth ages 6-14 through
the Jr. Golf Academy.
The Owensboro Ice Arena is the only public ice arena in Kentucky.
It is the home to the Owensboro Youth Hockey Association, Owensboro Men’s
Hockey League, Southern Belles Hockey Association, and the Owensboro Figure Skating Club. The Owensboro Parks and
Recreation Department offers “Learn to Skate” with the Owensboro
Skating School and follows the guidelines set by the Ice Skating Institute of
America. Classes are offered from age 3 to adult.
The Owensboro Sportscenter was built over 50 years ago and underwent
renovation in 1996. It is the home of Kentucky Wesleyan College, Owensboro
High School, and Owensboro Catholic High School. The Sportscenter has
been rented for various events including graduations, banquets, concerts,
family shows, circuses, and sporting events.
The Owensboro Softball Complex is located in the beautiful Jack C.
Fisher Park which was built in 1987. It is a four field, lighted complex with
a practice field. It is the home to the Owensboro High School softball
team. Several adult softball leagues are offered along with a kickball
league both in the summer and fall. The Owensboro Parks
and Recreation T-ball league is also played at the Owensboro
Softball Complex. This league is a non-competitive league and
is for ages 3-6. The complex fills with various tournaments on the weekends
from March to October, including three national tournaments this year. These
tournaments and the complex will generate over $18 million in economic impact
this year.
Dugan Best Recreation Center strives to provide a wholesome, quality,
clean and safe environment for youth and adults of the community. The Center
provides diversified programs and activities that are designed to promote a
sense of competence, belonging, power, and usefulness which, hopefully, in turn
will enhance the future goals of our youth.
The Owensboro Parks and Recreation department provides programming
for several areas including youth, teen, senior, and sports. These programs
range from preschool age to adult and include a wide variety of classes and
activities. Some include Preschool Fridays, Kid City, Magic, Beginner Fiddle
and Acoustic Guitar, Tennis, Cheerleading, Fitness, Fishing, Volleyball, Computer,
and a variety of Senior Tournaments to name a few. The Owensboro Youth Council
is a mayor-appointed council of representatives from each high and middle school
in Owensboro-Daviess County. They address the many issues involving
teens and youth of today and help with programs such as Teen Themed Night Out and
the Owensboro Youth Summit.
A
Celebration of the American Spirit
The Owensboro Parks and Recreation
Department puts on 15 special events throughout the year. Each event targets
different groups in our community in hopes of providing every citizen
with special activities of interest to them each year. Some of these special
events include the Corporate Challenge where area businesses participate
in an Olympic Style of competition in 19 different events and total participants
is over 1500 individuals! Ghost and Goblins is a week long Halloween in
the Park type of event. Holiday in the Park is an event that has been
going on for 19 years and is a popular holiday attraction. Giant
elves, trees, toys, cards, and figures, not to mention Santa in his sleigh,
illuminated by numerous lights, line the half-mile paved walking path
in Legion Park. Another Christmas Special event is Santa Calls. Other popular events are the Daddy-Daughter Date
night, Mother/Son Night of fun, and the Family
Flashlight Easter Egg Hunt. One of the largest events held by
the Owensboro Parks and Recreation Department is the Celebration of the American
Spirit on July 4th each year.
The Owensboro Parks and Recreation Department strives to have
something for everyone. Therefore, scholarships are available through the scholarship
program for any of the department’s programs or events.
