Dr. Benjamin Hickerson (Community and Therapeutic Recreation) received a continuation of funding from The Pennsylvania State University for the project “A Systematic Evaluation of Park Renovation at Fairmont Park East Parkside – Phase II.”
This subcontract is part of a larger research project evaluating the impact of park renovations occurring at Bartram’s Mile and The Rail Park in Philadelphia. These renovations are part of Philadelphia’s Reimagining the Civic Commons initiative. The purpose of this subcontracted project is to assess visitor characteristics at defined segments of the parks. Unobtrusive observation of park user behaviors (number of visitors, type of activity, time of day/day of week, visitor flows within the area) and user characteristics (age, race, sex, group size) will be made within these segments. The System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities (SOPARC) will be used as the tool for visitor counts and observations. SOPARC is a validated instrument using momentary time-sampling to collect data that is useful for comparing before/aftereffects within a defined space where park investments take place.
