Helena launches parks survey for 10-year master plan update

Helena has opened a parks and recreation survey that will help decide where the city puts money first as it rewrites the plan that will guide parks spending and improvements through 2035. City officials launched the community survey on Tuesday, June 23, and sent it to only a limited group of residents in an effort to widen the range of voices beyond the people who usually show up at public meetings.

The update is more than a planning exercise. City materials say it will assess existing parks and facilities, identify community priorities and develop recommendations for current and future residents. A June 2026 Parks Board packet says the master plan update will also incorporate the 2018 Parks and Recreation Master Plan and prioritize renovations and improvements across city parks, while open lands are planned separately. In practical terms, the survey could influence capital spending, maintenance schedules, new amenities and access gaps in neighborhoods across Helena.

The city’s most recent Parks and Recreation Master Plan was adopted in 2010, updating a 1998 plan. That earlier plan was built through an extensive process that included data collection, research, fieldwork, community meetings, surveys and public meetings, and the current update is intended to serve as a 10-year roadmap for the parks and recreation system. Helena says it is working with ETC Institute, a national research firm that specializes in statistically valid surveys for local governments, to gather the feedback.

The scale of the system makes those choices significant. Helena’s Parks, Recreation and Open Lands Department says it manages more than 2,140 acres of developed and undeveloped parkland across 30 parks. The system includes bike and pedestrian trails, a 50-meter outdoor swimming pool with a splash pad, lazy river and waterslides, a public golf course, a civic center, tennis and pickleball sites, a skateboard park, a bike park and four outdoor skating rinks.

The city says the engagement process will include multiple opportunities for public participation as the plan develops. For Helena families, trail users and neighborhood park regulars, the survey is a first chance to shape which projects move ahead, which facilities get repaired and which parts of the city’s recreation system could be left waiting until the next round of funding.