The Community Services Department recently learned that it is the recipient of the 2022 Texas Recreation And Parks Society (TRAPS) North Region’s Excellence in Maintenance (Class II) Award!
The Department submitted its recently created Marq Asset Replacement Plan for consideration and is delighted to achieve this recognition from our peers. Let’s learn some more about our newly award-winning Marq Asset Replacement Plan!
With over 107,000 square feet of fitness, aquatics, social, and community spaces, The Marq represents one of the City’s most significant capital investments. In the last year, a cross-departmental team of City staff worked tirelessly to create a comprehensive Asset Replacement Plan for The Marq to proactively strategize critical maintenance and future replacement of every major asset in the building. This collaborative effort resulted in a comprehensive 20-year asset strategy for The Marq Southlake.
Creating the plan was a lengthy and collaborative process between Community Services, Finance, and the City Manager’s Office. Conducting careful research was crucial to creating an operationally and financially viable plan. Staff knew they needed a solid methodology for a fiscally responsible plan.
The plan's goals were clear: build out a 20-year plan (through the year 2039) that creates a replacement schedule that all staff can adhere to. The plan accounts for future inflation, cost escalation, and labor costs. To be prepared for the worst, the plan incorporated the highest-cost options for the earliest replacement year for each asset to ensure enough funding is set aside annually. To determine accurate replacement years for the plan, staff relied on vendor recommendations, known industry standards, and best practices used by other cities.
After spending most of 2022 working on this project, The Marq Southlake Asset Replacement Plan was complete! A truly comprehensive asset maintenance strategy, the Asset Replacement Plan consists of several unique facility Asset Categories:
The Marq Asset Replacement Plan took an exhaustive approach far beyond large-scale investments, like fitness equipment, to include all assets, such as paint and flooring.
The Marq Asset Replacement Plan embodies a year-long process of research, financial know-how, and cross-departmental collaboration. Building solid partnerships with vendors and allowing Community Services staff to take ownership of their business areas was also a crucial step to turning this plan from an idea to improve our financial readiness to a reality.
According to the awards letter, our “nomination stood out above the rest to exemplify commitment and dedication in the field of parks and recreation. We are honored to present this award to you and for your commitment to excellence in all that you do in your daily pursuits.”
The Department will publicly accept this award at the TRAPS North Region Conference in Irving on Thursday, November 3.
Congratulations to everyone who worked on the Marq Asset Replacement Plan for being recognized for your commitment to excellence!
The Community Services Department recently learned that it is the recipient of the 2022 Texas Recreation And Parks Society (TRAPS) North Region’s Excellence in Maintenance (Class II) Award!
The Department submitted its recently created Marq Asset Replacement Plan for consideration and is delighted to achieve this recognition from our peers. Let’s learn some more about our newly award-winning Marq Asset Replacement Plan!
With over 107,000 square feet of fitness, aquatics, social, and community spaces, The Marq represents one of the City’s most significant capital investments. In the last year, a cross-departmental team of City staff worked tirelessly to create a comprehensive Asset Replacement Plan for The Marq to proactively strategize critical maintenance and future replacement of every major asset in the building. This collaborative effort resulted in a comprehensive 20-year asset strategy for The Marq Southlake.
Creating the plan was a lengthy and collaborative process between Community Services, Finance, and the City Manager’s Office. Conducting careful research was crucial to creating an operationally and financially viable plan. Staff knew they needed a solid methodology for a fiscally responsible plan.
The plan's goals were clear: build out a 20-year plan (through the year 2039) that creates a replacement schedule that all staff can adhere to. The plan accounts for future inflation, cost escalation, and labor costs. To be prepared for the worst, the plan incorporated the highest-cost options for the earliest replacement year for each asset to ensure enough funding is set aside annually. To determine accurate replacement years for the plan, staff relied on vendor recommendations, known industry standards, and best practices used by other cities.
After spending most of 2022 working on this project, The Marq Southlake Asset Replacement Plan was complete! A truly comprehensive asset maintenance strategy, the Asset Replacement Plan consists of several unique facility Asset Categories:
The Marq Asset Replacement Plan took an exhaustive approach far beyond large-scale investments, like fitness equipment, to include all assets, such as paint and flooring.
The Marq Asset Replacement Plan embodies a year-long process of research, financial know-how, and cross-departmental collaboration. Building solid partnerships with vendors and allowing Community Services staff to take ownership of their business areas was also a crucial step to turning this plan from an idea to improve our financial readiness to a reality.
According to the awards letter, our “nomination stood out above the rest to exemplify commitment and dedication in the field of parks and recreation. We are honored to present this award to you and for your commitment to excellence in all that you do in your daily pursuits.”
The Department will publicly accept this award at the TRAPS North Region Conference in Irving on Thursday, November 3.
Congratulations to everyone who worked on the Marq Asset Replacement Plan for being recognized for your commitment to excellence!
Community programming is a quintessential aspect of Parks and Recreation. The goal of the Community Services team is to create world-class experiences for our residents and participants.
Recently, the Community Services Department learned that it won two awards from the Texas Recreation and Parks Society North Region. The Southlake Senior Activity Center's Floral Friends Program won the Excellence in Programming Award (Class II). The Southlake Arts Council won the Arts and Humanities Programming Award (Class II) for the Southlake Presents Art Show and Competition.
These two awards represent our community’s commitment to excellence in the field of Recreation. We are proud to receive this recognition because these two programs highlight the extraordinary efforts of Southlake residents.
Let’s learn a bit more about each award.
Floral Friends Program
The Floral Friends program is simple. Every week, a senior center member picks up unsold flowers from a local grocer through a community partnership and delivers them to the Senior Activity Center. Once dropped off, another group of volunteer seniors works on arranging the flowers into masterpieces that elevate the visitor experience at Legends Hall.
The Floral Friends program unites our senior volunteers through the common goals of learning, taking pride in their shared space, and bringing joy to those who utilize the facility. They work hard to make the Senior Activity Center at The Marq a home away from home for visitors and employees alike! This cost-neutral program also strengthened community relations and improved waste reduction while providing vital social and creative interactions for our active adults. The benefits of this program are three-fold. It builds a long-lasting partnership with a local business, reduces waste by utilizing unsellable flowers through an in-kind donation, provides an avenue for a low-to-no-cost program for the senior center, and brings our Senior community joy. Talent-sharing, catering to the needs of our senior community and supporting our local businesses perfectly tie into the City of Southlake’s Strategy Map principle of Partnership and Volunteerism.
The Southlake Senior Activity Center is so proud of our Floral Friends volunteers for being recognized for their dedication to beautifying our shared spaces.
Southlake Presents Art Show and Competition
The Southlake Presents Art Show and Competition was the brainchild of the Southlake Arts Council. It was brought to life by a partnership that included City staff, Arts Council members, the APEX Arts League, and local Southlake artists. The Southlake Arts Council desired to emphasize the significance of the arts in Southlake by mounting a public art exhibit that only featured pieces created by Southlake residents for the first time. Planning began in early 2022, and the application period lasted from January to March 15. The program was advertised on the City’s social media, the Experience Southlake website, and My Southlake News.
Twenty-four local artists entered over 70 original pieces into the competition by the time the deadline rolled around. The Southlake Arts Council selected 15 unique pieces ranging from oil and watercolor on canvas, photography, and mixed media, to quilt art for the exhibit.
In addition to the exhibit, the City of Southlake, the Southlake Arts Council, and the APEX Arts League partner to provide a public art reception to kick off every new public art display in the Town Hall. The Southlake Presents Art Show Reception was on Sunday, May 1, at 5:00 PM in the Town Hall Lobby. Participating artists and their families came to celebrate their art and answer questions.
Congratulations to our Senior Activity Center Floral Friends volunteers and the Southlake Arts Council for being recognized for your extraordinary commitment to strengthening our community.
The Community Services Department will publicly accept both awards at the TRAPS North Region Conference at the Irving Convention Center on Thursday, November 3.
Community programming is a quintessential aspect of Parks and Recreation. The goal of the Community Services team is to create world-class experiences for our residents and participants.
Recently, the Community Services Department learned that it won two awards from the Texas Recreation and Parks Society North Region. The Southlake Senior Activity Center's Floral Friends Program won the Excellence in Programming Award (Class II). The Southlake Arts Council won the Arts and Humanities Programming Award (Class II) for the Southlake Presents Art Show and Competition.
These two awards represent our community’s commitment to excellence in the field of Recreation. We are proud to receive this recognition because these two programs highlight the extraordinary efforts of Southlake residents.
Let’s learn a bit more about each award.
Floral Friends Program
The Floral Friends program is simple. Every week, a senior center member picks up unsold flowers from a local grocer through a community partnership and delivers them to the Senior Activity Center. Once dropped off, another group of volunteer seniors works on arranging the flowers into masterpieces that elevate the visitor experience at Legends Hall.
The Floral Friends program unites our senior volunteers through the common goals of learning, taking pride in their shared space, and bringing joy to those who utilize the facility. They work hard to make the Senior Activity Center at The Marq a home away from home for visitors and employees alike! This cost-neutral program also strengthened community relations and improved waste reduction while providing vital social and creative interactions for our active adults. The benefits of this program are three-fold. It builds a long-lasting partnership with a local business, reduces waste by utilizing unsellable flowers through an in-kind donation, provides an avenue for a low-to-no-cost program for the senior center, and brings our Senior community joy. Talent-sharing, catering to the needs of our senior community and supporting our local businesses perfectly tie into the City of Southlake’s Strategy Map principle of Partnership and Volunteerism.
The Southlake Senior Activity Center is so proud of our Floral Friends volunteers for being recognized for their dedication to beautifying our shared spaces.
Southlake Presents Art Show and Competition
The Southlake Presents Art Show and Competition was the brainchild of the Southlake Arts Council. It was brought to life by a partnership that included City staff, Arts Council members, the APEX Arts League, and local Southlake artists. The Southlake Arts Council desired to emphasize the significance of the arts in Southlake by mounting a public art exhibit that only featured pieces created by Southlake residents for the first time. Planning began in early 2022, and the application period lasted from January to March 15. The program was advertised on the City’s social media, the Experience Southlake website, and My Southlake News.
Twenty-four local artists entered over 70 original pieces into the competition by the time the deadline rolled around. The Southlake Arts Council selected 15 unique pieces ranging from oil and watercolor on canvas, photography, and mixed media, to quilt art for the exhibit.
In addition to the exhibit, the City of Southlake, the Southlake Arts Council, and the APEX Arts League partner to provide a public art reception to kick off every new public art display in the Town Hall. The Southlake Presents Art Show Reception was on Sunday, May 1, at 5:00 PM in the Town Hall Lobby. Participating artists and their families came to celebrate their art and answer questions.
Congratulations to our Senior Activity Center Floral Friends volunteers and the Southlake Arts Council for being recognized for your extraordinary commitment to strengthening our community.
The Community Services Department will publicly accept both awards at the TRAPS North Region Conference at the Irving Convention Center on Thursday, November 3.
Community programming is a quintessential aspect of Parks and Recreation. The goal of the Community Services team is to create world-class experiences for our residents and participants.
Recently, the Community Services Department learned that it won two awards from the Texas Recreation and Parks Society North Region. The Southlake Senior Activity Center's Floral Friends Program won the Excellence in Programming Award (Class II). The Southlake Arts Council won the Arts and Humanities Programming Award (Class II) for the Southlake Presents Art Show and Competition.
These two awards represent our community’s commitment to excellence in the field of Recreation. We are proud to receive this recognition because these two programs highlight the extraordinary efforts of Southlake residents.
Let’s learn a bit more about each award.
Floral Friends Program
The Floral Friends program is simple. Every week, a senior center member picks up unsold flowers from a local grocer through a community partnership and delivers them to the Senior Activity Center. Once dropped off, another group of volunteer seniors works on arranging the flowers into masterpieces that elevate the visitor experience at Legends Hall.
The Floral Friends program unites our senior volunteers through the common goals of learning, taking pride in their shared space, and bringing joy to those who utilize the facility. They work hard to make the Senior Activity Center at The Marq a home away from home for visitors and employees alike! This cost-neutral program also strengthened community relations and improved waste reduction while providing vital social and creative interactions for our active adults. The benefits of this program are three-fold. It builds a long-lasting partnership with a local business, reduces waste by utilizing unsellable flowers through an in-kind donation, provides an avenue for a low-to-no-cost program for the senior center, and brings our Senior community joy. Talent-sharing, catering to the needs of our senior community and supporting our local businesses perfectly tie into the City of Southlake’s Strategy Map principle of Partnership and Volunteerism.
The Southlake Senior Activity Center is so proud of our Floral Friends volunteers for being recognized for their dedication to beautifying our shared spaces.
Southlake Presents Art Show and Competition
The Southlake Presents Art Show and Competition was the brainchild of the Southlake Arts Council. It was brought to life by a partnership that included City staff, Arts Council members, the APEX Arts League, and local Southlake artists. The Southlake Arts Council desired to emphasize the significance of the arts in Southlake by mounting a public art exhibit that only featured pieces created by Southlake residents for the first time. Planning began in early 2022, and the application period lasted from January to March 15. The program was advertised on the City’s social media, the Experience Southlake website, and My Southlake News.
Twenty-four local artists entered over 70 original pieces into the competition by the time the deadline rolled around. The Southlake Arts Council selected 15 unique pieces ranging from oil and watercolor on canvas, photography, and mixed media, to quilt art for the exhibit.
In addition to the exhibit, the City of Southlake, the Southlake Arts Council, and the APEX Arts League partner to provide a public art reception to kick off every new public art display in the Town Hall. The Southlake Presents Art Show Reception was on Sunday, May 1, at 5:00 PM in the Town Hall Lobby. Participating artists and their families came to celebrate their art and answer questions.
Congratulations to our Senior Activity Center Floral Friends volunteers and the Southlake Arts Council for being recognized for your extraordinary commitment to strengthening our community.
The Community Services Department will publicly accept both awards at the TRAPS North Region Conference at the Irving Convention Center on Thursday, November 3.
The world-class staff that manages the award-winning Southlake Senior Activity Center are no strangers to commitment to excellence!
No one exhibits passion and dedication to our 55 and better community more than Senior Services Coordinator Soheila Phelps. Soheila leads the Senior Services team and is the brains behind the incredible programming offered to our members. Compassionate, kind, and creative, Soheila is taking her leadership skills to the next level as the most recently appointed Chairperson of the Leisure and Aging branch of the Texas Recreation and Parks Society (TRAPS).
Soheila officially took over this position at the TRAPS 2022 Institute and Expo in College Station last week. While there, she also had the honor of accepting the 2022 Lonestar Recreation Programming Class IV Award on behalf of the Southlake Senior Activity Center.
The goal of the Leisure and Aging branch is to enhance the offerings senior centers provide to aging communities throughout the state. The unexpected closure of various senior centers due to COVID transformed the regional Leisure and Aging branch into a state-wide group. The governing body of this organization consists of the Chairperson/ President, Vice-Chair/ President-Elect, and five representatives from each TRAPS region who oversee the different subcommittees. These individuals represent the interests of senior communities throughout the state. They also focus on innovating engaging programming to ensure our senior centers remain a valuable resource to our residents.
Soheila elevates the Southlake Senior Activity Center with her empathetic nature and servant-leadership and will do the same as the Chairperson of the TRAPS Leisure and Aging branch.
“I am looking forward to this challenge, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to give a louder voice to our seniors and aging community within TRAPS,” exclaimed Soheila.
Congratulations on this next step of your leadership journey, Soheila! You make Southlake proud, and we can’t wait to hear of the outstanding things you’ll continue to accomplish!
The world-class staff that manages the award-winning Southlake Senior Activity Center are no strangers to commitment to excellence!
No one exhibits passion and dedication to our 55 and better community more than Senior Services Coordinator Soheila Phelps. Soheila leads the Senior Services team and is the brains behind the incredible programming offered to our members. Compassionate, kind, and creative, Soheila is taking her leadership skills to the next level as the most recently appointed Chairperson of the Leisure and Aging branch of the Texas Recreation and Parks Society (TRAPS).
Soheila officially took over this position at the TRAPS 2022 Institute and Expo in College Station last week. While there, she also had the honor of accepting the 2022 Lonestar Recreation Programming Class IV Award on behalf of the Southlake Senior Activity Center.
The goal of the Leisure and Aging branch is to enhance the offerings senior centers provide to aging communities throughout the state. The unexpected closure of various senior centers due to COVID transformed the regional Leisure and Aging branch into a state-wide group. The governing body of this organization consists of the Chairperson/ President, Vice-Chair/ President-Elect, and five representatives from each TRAPS region who oversee the different subcommittees. These individuals represent the interests of senior communities throughout the state. They also focus on innovating engaging programming to ensure our senior centers remain a valuable resource to our residents.
Soheila elevates the Southlake Senior Activity Center with her empathetic nature and servant-leadership and will do the same as the Chairperson of the TRAPS Leisure and Aging branch.
“I am looking forward to this challenge, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to give a louder voice to our seniors and aging community within TRAPS,” exclaimed Soheila.
Congratulations on this next step of your leadership journey, Soheila! You make Southlake proud, and we can’t wait to hear of the outstanding things you’ll continue to accomplish!
The world-class staff that manages the award-winning Southlake Senior Activity Center are no strangers to commitment to excellence!
No one exhibits passion and dedication to our 55 and better community more than Senior Services Coordinator Soheila Phelps. Soheila leads the Senior Services team and is the brains behind the incredible programming offered to our members. Compassionate, kind, and creative, Soheila is taking her leadership skills to the next level as the most recently appointed Chairperson of the Leisure and Aging branch of the Texas Recreation and Parks Society (TRAPS).
Soheila officially took over this position at the TRAPS 2022 Institute and Expo in College Station last week. While there, she also had the honor of accepting the 2022 Lonestar Recreation Programming Class IV Award on behalf of the Southlake Senior Activity Center.
The goal of the Leisure and Aging branch is to enhance the offerings senior centers provide to aging communities throughout the state. The unexpected closure of various senior centers due to COVID transformed the regional Leisure and Aging branch into a state-wide group. The governing body of this organization consists of the Chairperson/ President, Vice-Chair/ President-Elect, and five representatives from each TRAPS region who oversee the different subcommittees. These individuals represent the interests of senior communities throughout the state. They also focus on innovating engaging programming to ensure our senior centers remain a valuable resource to our residents.
Soheila elevates the Southlake Senior Activity Center with her empathetic nature and servant-leadership and will do the same as the Chairperson of the TRAPS Leisure and Aging branch.
“I am looking forward to this challenge, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to give a louder voice to our seniors and aging community within TRAPS,” exclaimed Soheila.
Congratulations on this next step of your leadership journey, Soheila! You make Southlake proud, and we can’t wait to hear of the outstanding things you’ll continue to accomplish!
The Senior Activity Center is known for its dedication to the senior community and its world-class programs!
The Southlake Senior Activity Center recently received the 2022 Lone Star Recreation Programming, Class IV Award at the state level from the Texas Recreation and Park Society (TRAPS) for the National Senior Center Month Parade. Staff submitted this Senior Center program for consideration in November. According to the TRAPS awards committee, “In keeping with the TRAPS Mission: Texas Recreation and Park Society advance the quality-of-life industry through Connections, Advocacy, Resources and Education (C.A.R.E.) Your agency and/or representative exemplified this acronym with tenacity.”
The Senior Activity Center Parade celebrated our Senior Center members in true Southlake fashion in September of 2020. Our members drove through the Legends Hall parking lot to the sound of music, encouraging cheers, and colorfully decorated posters. Each senior member was provided with a pre-packaged hot meal to enjoy safely at home. It was a highly successful event that brought together city staff, elected officials, volunteers, students, and our senior population!
This event, and programs like it, are our way of enhancing appreciation, understanding, and showcasing the vital role the senior center plays for seniors in our community. We celebrated, served our senior community, brought different generations together, and made priceless memories, despite all of the challenges we felt in the last year and a half. Bringing people together and witnessing our member's joy is how we define success as we serve the senior community at the Southlake Senior Activity Center.
The City of Southlake will receive the award at the 2022 TRAPS Institute and Expo Awards Ceremony on February 17 at 4:30 PM in College Station, TX.
Congratulations to everyone involved for a successful program!
Community Services staff learned last Friday that The Marq Southlake won the 2022 Texas Recreation and Parks Society (TRAPS) Recreation Facility Design Award at the State level!
The Department submitted The Marq Southlake for consideration in November. According to the TRAPS committee, “The awards committee had many wonderful entries to score, and it was a difficult task. Your nomination stood out above the rest to exemplify commitment and dedication in the field of recreation. We are honored to present this award to you and for your commitment to excellence in all that you do in your daily pursuits.”
The Marq Southlake serves as the City’s premier destination for family recreation, leisure, and communal gatherings. Almost two decades in the making, The Marq is the realization of a multi-year development dream to provide Southlake residents with a recreational oasis from the hustle and bustle of the DFW metroplex. When you enter The Marq, be it from the Legends Hall side or the Champions Club side, you immediately feel a sense of belonging. There is no better place for the community to come together, celebrate life’s most joyous occasions, participate in innovative programs, and make life-long memories.
The Marq's positive impact on the Southlake community is monumental. The Marq Southlake has become the heart of recreational programming in the City since opening its doors in 2015 for Phase 1. The facility is bustling with activity in the early mornings. Senior Citizens arrive for daily socialization while Champions Club's early birds hit the treadmill. The Marq transforms in the afternoon as seniors leave and school children arrive for after-school activities. Later in the evening, families and working professionals come to the Marq for social programs, meetings, exercise classes, and fitness. Weekends in Legends Hall consist of beautiful weddings and social events while Champions Club offers exciting programs for the whole family. The Marq is an example of what a modern multigenerational recreation center can be at its best.
Community Services staff is honored to receive this recognition from such esteemed industry partners! The Marq Southlake would not be what it is today without the input and support of various City departments, community partners, and residents.
The City of Southlake Community Services Department will receive this award on Thursday, February 17 at the TRAPS 2022 State Institute and Expo in College Station, TX. Congratulations to everyone that helped make The Marq Southlake the gem it is today!
