Murfreesboro Parks & Rec Receive New Director

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City Manager Rob Lyons has named Angela Jackson as Director of the Murfreesboro Parks & Recreation Department. Jackson has served as interim director since August 2016 following the retirement of long-time director Lanny Goodwin. Prior to being named interim director, Jackson had served as assistant director for the department for 6 years.

“After conducting a national search, I am pleased to announce Angela Jackson as the new Director of the Murfreesboro Parks & Recreation Department, a department Ms. Jackson knows well having served as assistant director since 2010,” said City Manager Rob Lyons. “As a proven leader in our Parks and Greenway system, I am confident that Angela’s experience and knowledge in managing Murfreesboro’s parks and recreation assets and facilitating programs will continue to greatly benefit our community.”

As director, Jackson is responsible for coordinating the management and operations of the City’s park system that includes approximately 1,238 acres, 29 sites, 74 buildings and more than $155 million in assets. The Murfreesboro Parks and Recreation Department has 75 full-time and 275 part-time/seasonal employees with an operating budget of approximately $12.5 million.

Jackson began her work for the award-winning Murfreesboro Parks & Recreation Department and the City of Murfreesboro in April 2001 as Assistant Program Coordinator for Wilderness Station at Barfield Crescent Park. She has also served as Program Coordinator for the Murfreesboro Greenway System from 2003 to 2010 and most recently as assistant director of the department from July 2010 to August 2016. Jackson began working in the parks and recreation field in 1997 as a Village Water Safety and Recreation Program Instructor in Alaska before working as an Outdoor Environmental Education Instructor in Waialua, Hawaii in 1998.

Among her numerous certifications and awards, Jackson has received the Distinguished Young Professional Award from the Tennessee Recreation and Parks Association; Environmental Administrator of the Year from the Tennessee Environmental Education Association; Outstanding Leadership Award—Ethnic Minority Section (EMS) from the Tennessee Recreation Association.

Jackson is currently serving as a board member of the Tennessee Recreation and Parks Education Foundation and has previously served as Municipal/County Chair of the Tennessee Parks and Recreation Association (TPRA) in 2015. Her service for TPRA has also included service on numerous special committees including Resource Management Chair and Management Performance Institute (MPI) coordinator.

Jackson is a graduate of Freed-Hardeman University in Henderson, Tennessee and holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Social and Behavioral Sciences. She is also a 2012-13 graduate of the National Recreation and Parks Association Directors School and is a certified Parks and Recreation Professional (CPRP) through the National Recreation and Parks Association.

Jackson’s community service includes past member of the Read to Succeed Council, 2008-2014 and the One Book Committee, 2014; Discovery Center at Murfree Spring Advisory Board, 2003-2011; and currently serves as a Brownie Girl Scout leader.

The Murfreesboro Parks & Recreation Department has long been considered one of the top departments in the state, annually winning numerous awards from the Tennessee Recreation and Parks Association (TRPA). A list of the some of the major facilities managed and operated by Parks & Recreation Department include the following:

Cannonsburgh Village.
Richard Siegel Soccer Park.
Greenway system with 12 miles of Greenway trails.
Sports*Com and Star*Plex ballfields.
Adams Tennis Complex.
Wilderness Station, an outdoor education and recreation facility in Barfield Crescent Park.
Gateway Island.
Black Cat Cave secured and protected after 7,500-year-old human remains were discovered.
Patterson Park Community Center.
Barfield Crescent Park.
Miracle Field, a custom field for children with special needs under construction at McKnight Park.

City Parks & Recreation Director Lanny Goodwin retired August 12, 2016.

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