Selecting a shelter or a shade structure goes well beyond knowing the most popular building types and how they’ll suit your site. Learn how some facilities are using these structures to meet the needs of some pretty special patrons.

Providing a place for patrons to gather and play after dark means installing lighting that not only helps them feel safe, but also truly makes them safe. Learn how smart lighting design choices can not only protect patrons, but also can protect our night-time views of the starry skies.

With more parks and recreational facilities focusing on sustainable design than ever, we take a look at some of the ways green approaches to running a facility can translate into reduced operational costs.

With your feet firmly planted on terra firma, a challenge course can look pretty, well, challenging. It’s important to remember that the physical course is only part of the story—ensuring facilitator quality is equally, if not more, important.

Variety, flexibility and economy are the key ingredients in the recipe for skatepark success. Learn how a truly modular skatepark system can provide the right combination for most municipalities.

If communities could organize their schools, recreation and sports programming to teach scientifically proven skills in self-control, we could go a long way to reducing many of society’s ills.

Advances in chemical automation, development of new disinfection methods and better education on water chemistry problems have simplified the aquatic facility manager’s job, while providing safer water to swimmers.

Colleges face tough competition when it comes to recruiting the best and brightest. While cutting-edge academics are key, a key to putting one’s best face forward is a well-designed recreation facility.

Miami University needed a smart solution to allow for indoor tennis practice. Find out how the school’s athletes are top performers on and off the court—inside and out.

At the height of the Christmas shopping season, you can find all the typical sights in downtown San Jose, Calif., from carolers and bustling shoppers to ice-skaters wearing light jackets. Learn more about how the city keeps an ice rink running in its less-than-wintry climate.

While brand-new aquatic complexes may be popping up across the country, one Chicago suburb is preserving its past while its aquatics center steps squarely into the 21st century.

With attendance at public golf courses falling in recent years, one city’s facilities have managed to bring the public back to the greens.