Rochester Sports & Recreation Complex Working Group to meet in March 2025

Statement of Intent: The City of Rochester, Parks & Recreation Department, TSP + Bolton and Menk seek to collaborate with up to 7+ Working Group community members to inform the development and refinement of the Rochester Sports and Recreation Complex (RSRC).

Background: The City of Rochester, Parks & Recreation Department and TSP + Bolton and Menk have developed a conceptual plan for the RSRC that has a focus on Outdoor Sports and Recreation opportunities for community access and sports tournaments. The design currently includes Baseball / Softball fields, multi-use rectangle fields, a playground, a walking trail and other site amenities. As part of that work, the City is interested in hearing from an equitable cross-section of community members to provide insight into the design and refinement of the Recreation and Sports Complex. Together with the City and TSP + BM, we seek to co-facilitate a Working Group effort that best represents and advocates for missing community perspectives and values in the outcome of the complex.

Responsibilities: Working Group members will participate in three (3) 90-minute in-person meetings, during which they will share experiences, develop interview questions, discuss ideas, and communicate project outcomes (with the help of the project team). The Working Group will participate in three (3) research and design exploration periods which will occur following each design meeting. Participants will individually hold interviews or conversations with people they know, and test ideas collectively developed in the previous meetings. Participants will take notes, synthesize them (discussion and synthesis guides will be provided to participants), and share them with project facilitators and other stakeholders during a subsequent design meeting.

Design Meetings Working Group: members will need to attend three (3) 90-minute meetings which will follow the schedule below. If there are limitations to participation, please share these with the project team to ensure accommodations can be made.

Research and Design Exploration Periods Between each design meeting, candidates will spend 3-4 hours to hold interviews and test ideas with people they know (the types of interviews and questions will be determined during the design meetings and the project facilitator will compile in the form of discussion guides). Working Group members will also schedule one 15-minute phone call with the facilitator between each design session.

Time Commitment While accommodations will be made for un-scheduled events such as personal or family illness, each Working Group member should be able to contribute the time needed to participate in this project and can expect the project to run approximately nine (9) weeks. In total, Working Group members can expect to spend 14-18 hours total over the duration of the project between the meetings and community conversations.