What Is Park Maintenance? (Definition, Jobs & Examples)

We’ve all enjoyed parks where we can congregate with friends, picnic with family, go for a hike or simply take in nature. Whether city, state or federally run, park systems require maintenance to stay safe, clean and functional for the public. 

Park maintenance involves everything from landscaping and picking up litter to facility maintenance on park buildings. It’s funded by several sources, including government agencies, grants and user fees, but funding can be challenging to receive. As a result, U.S. federal parks currently have unmet repairs totaling $12 billion. Through the Great American Outdoors Act, legislators have allocated nearly $9.5 billion over a five-year period to address maintenance issues across federal parkland.

So, what goes into such a big investment like this? Let’s take a closer look at the importance of park maintenance, the maintenance staff who perform it and some key examples of what park maintenance entails. 

Examples of Park Maintenance 

Whether it’s a state park, county park or your neighborhood playground, park maintenance activities are similar no matter the size. They include:

• Landscaping: Landscaping involves the care of lawns and gardens via mowing, watering, fertilizing, weeding and planting to promote the healthy growth of plant life. Landscapers and groundskeepers will also perform grounds maintenance to ensure park trail functionality through the removal of plant overgrowth.
• Cleaning: Park maintenance involves removing graffiti, litter and trash from public parks and park facilities (like restrooms and visitor centers) as well as stocking supplies like paper towels and soap where needed. 
• General infrastructure repair and maintenance: Park maintenance duties also require the repair or replacement of broken playground equipment, picnic tables, grills, trash bins and plumbing in water fountains or bathrooms. Repainting park equipment and athletic fields is another duty involved in maintenance and is essential for park safety and aesthetics.  
• Parking lot maintenance: Maintenance on parking lots can be as simple as routine sweeping and cleaning to remove debris, identifying damage that needs repair and maintaining landscaping around the lot. It may also include tasks like leaf-blowing in the warmer months and snow removal during the winter. Repaving, applying asphalt overlays, filling cracks and striping lines also help keep parking lots well-maintained for users. 
• Security: Installing and maintaining signs and surveillance equipment throughout a park is necessary for public safety. Well-lit areas deter criminal activity and provide community members with a sense of security when walking around the park or to and from their vehicles.  

Why Is Park Maintenance Important? 

Regular maintenance ensures that parks are clean and usable spaces for recreation, special events and even relaxation. Parks reflect the community as a whole and give its residents a sense of pride in their surroundings. By addressing litter, plant overgrowth and damaged equipment, maintenance improves security and reduces the risk of accidents. A clean, regularly maintained park can even increase the value of the neighborhood around it, as well-kept green spaces contribute to an area’s curb appeal and make it more desirable to potential homebuyers and businesses alike.

Beyond aesthetic and economic benefits, park maintenance contributes to public health and sustainability. According to City Parks Alliance, “Trees in urban parks remove up to 711,000 tons of toxins from the air annually at a value of $3.8 billion to cities. Green spaces also filter rain, reducing water pollution, protecting drinking water and decreasing the rates of waterborne illness. Green spaces in cities also help cool our cities, reducing the heat-island effect.”

How Park Departments Perform Maintenance  

Effective park maintenance requires organization to keep parks clean, safe and enjoyable. These steps will help you keep your park department’s maintenance team on top of tasks. 

• Create a maintenance strategy: Maintenance teams should develop a comprehensive park maintenance outline of specific tasks and deadlines. It should prioritize areas based on condition and visitor usage to make sure these areas receive attention first.
• Invest in a CMMS: Many organizations and people come together to help clean parks. A computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software can help streamline maintenance operations by tracking asset inventory, organizing maintenance schedules and assigning work orders. This makes it easier for managers to allocate tasks and resources.
• Prioritize security: Parks should be regularly inspected for potential hazards, so maintenance workers can address any possible security concerns right away.  
• Follow best landscaping and cleaning practices: When cleaning and landscaping, workers should carry out best practices, like picking up litter, emptying trash cans, maintaining open spaces and plants, and sprinkler systems. Parks and recreation facilities should remain clean and well-stocked for users. 
• Perform routine inspections and maintenance: Maintenance managers should schedule regular preventive maintenance work to proactively identify and address any potential issues within the park before they become too big and costly. 
• Get funding for maintenance: If funding is lacking on the government level, there are other ways to get money to maintain a park. For example, implementing fees or seeking grants will help support park maintenance. 

Who Performs Park Maintenance? 

Park maintenance is carried out by a dedicated team of people from varying sectors, including the National Park Service, public works staff, country park and recreation agencies, contract services and even volunteers. Park maintenance jobs typically include the following roles: 

• Janitors: Janitors keep parks clean by picking up litter, emptying trash cans and making sure public bathrooms are well-stocked and hygienic. 
• Gardeners and landscape professionals: Landscapers and gardeners focus on the aesthetic and ecological aspects of plant life in parks. They plant and maintain flowers, trees, shrubs, lawns and gardens around a park. This typically includes working with pesticides and irrigation systems.
• Maintenance technicians: Maintenance techs repair and maintain playground equipment, benches, trails and lights. They also perform electrical work, plumbing and carpentry as a part of building maintenance.
• Maintenance supervisors: Maintenance supervisors oversee the technicians that tend to a park and make sure their tasks are carried out promptly and efficiently. They schedule inspections and repairs, create work orders, maintain budgets and work with others to secure funding for further maintenance. 

Using Coast to Streamline Your Maintenance Strategy

Using Coast’s software as part of your park maintenance program can help you prioritize tasks and enhance your team’s efficiency. With our app, you can streamline maintenance procedures, from scheduling and prioritizing tasks to creating work orders and monitoring team responsibilities in real time from wherever you are. 

Coast’s customization options go beyond your standard CMMS, though, in that the software’s no-code platform gives users the opportunity to build a product tailored to their needs instead of relying on industry-specific templates. Through drag-and-drop features and customizable fields and modules, you can get your maintenance management system set up quickly without the need for technical guidance. Better yet, maintenance teams will experience cost savings across the board in terms of improved equipment uptime and asset longevity as well as employee efficiency in the field.

Check out Coast today for a free trial or enterprise asset management pricing!