Centre Region Parks and Recreation Authority

The mission of the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Authority (CRPRA) is to serve Centre Region residents of all ages throughout the year with a variety of recreation opportunities and access to facilities to enrich their lives through participation in programs, facility use, provision of leadership resources and technical assistance, and serving the participating municipalities' residents and groups.

The Authority membership includes five municipalities--the Borough of State College and the Townships of College, Ferguson, Harris, and Patton--and the State College Area School District.  Each municipality appoints one volunteer representative to serve a five-year term on the Authority, plus one representative from the State College Area School District who is appointed by State College Borough Council. In October 2011, the five participating municipalities re-authorized the future of the Authority for January, 2012 through December, 2061.  

The 2020 Authority members are pictured above (from left to right): Bill Keough, Vice-Chair (Ferguson Township), Kathy Matason, Chairperson (College Township), Tom Daubert (State College Borough), and Cindy Solic, Secretary (Patton Township).  Diane Ishler, Treasurer (Harris Township) and Shannon Messick (SCASD) were not pictured.

2021 Authority Members

The Centre Region Parks and Recreation Authority typically meets on the third Thursday of each month at 12:15 PM for their regular meeting, which is open to the public; during the colder months, the meetings are typically held in the Centre Region COG Building’s Forum Room. During the warmer months, the Authority will rotate its meeting to various parks and facilities throughout the region. The Authority’s agendas, meeting minutes, and meeting schedule are posted HERE.

Additionally, the Authority meets jointly with the Centre Region COG Parks Capital Committee and that quarterly meeting is typically the second Thursday of January, April, July, and October. In 2021, the meeting schedule increased to every other month, still on the second Thursday of January, March, May, July, September, and November.  These meetings are held in the Centre Region COG Building’s Forum Room at 12:15 PM, and the meeting is open to the public. The Centre Region COG Parks Capital Committee oversees work with our regional facilities, including the regional parks.  The Joint Meeting agendas and meeting minutes are posted HERE.  You can find the COG Meeting Calendar HERE.  

The Authority and Agency staff have set goals via the approved 2020 Centre Region Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Comprehensive Study's Action Plan. 

Additionally, the Authority operates using the 2014 Authority By-Laws which provide direction for policy and procedure.

Many members of the Authority also participate in their municipality's Parks and Recreation Committee; this dual service provides a great conduit between the Authority/Agency and the municipality.  Typically, information that is shared includes Capital Improvement Projects, timelines of various park improvements, recommended programming for the community, policies and procedures, and more.  You can find more information about your municipality's Parks and Recreation Committee HERE. 

We also have an extensive history of the department located in our History section.  There are year-by-year details and milestones contained in this History section.

To read more about Centre Region Parks and Recreation and current accomplishments and newsworthy items, please visit our News and Updates page.

To see the list of 80+ volunteers who have served on the CRPR Authority since its inception, click HERE. Thank you to everyone who has served