Wilson Named Director of Metro Parks
Nashville, Tenn. --- The Metro Board of Parks and Recreation today named Roy E. Wilson director of the department. Wilson, currently the Deputy Director of the Parks and Recreation Department in Houston, Texas, will assume his duties for Metro Parks in early April.
"Roy Wilson has a passion for recreation, is progressive and will bring to our parks department the benefit of his broad exposure to parks programs in several different communities," said Parks Board Chair Lamont Carter. "He has an unparalleled understanding of the challenges involved in making our Parks' Department the best in the country and shares the Board's commitment to do so."
Wilson, a 26-year Parks and Recreation veteran, was responsible for a $19 million budget and managed the operations of programs in 57 community centers, 43 swimming pools, 8 golf courses, three tennis centers, citywide youth and adult sports and several city-sponsored special events.
Wilson holds an undergraduate degree in Sociology from Tennessee State University. He completed the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service Management Excellence Program in 1995. He is a member of the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA), the Urban Youth Initiative Advisory Board and NRPA's Southwest Regional Council. Wilson succeeds Jim Fyke, who left last year to head the state's Park Department.
The Metro Board of Parks and Recreation manages and maintains: 100 parks and greenways encompassing more than 10,200 acres including several large wilderness parks, 75 playgrounds, 21 community centers, 7 golf courses, 2 senior centers, 16 swimming pools, 117 ball fields, a 165 slip sail-boat marina, two art centers, The Parthenon, The Centennial Sportsplex, Wave Country, The Beautification and Environment Commission, The Warner Park Nature Center, and a variety of other programs and facilities for baseball, softball soccer, tennis and basketball.