The Mission of the Scituate Recreation Department is to provide exceptional and creative programs, services and facilities for the Town of Scituate.
The Recreation Department’s primary function is to provide recreational programming and opportunities to the residents of Scituate.
The department runs approximately 300 programs per year. This entails planning, staffing (155 seasonal employees as well as 200 volunteers…who volunteered over 3100 hours!!) and registering over 4500 participants per year. Our programs are 100% self-supported through user fees. The user fees not only pay for all associated costs with each program but also support the department (i.e. office supplies, office machinery, seasonal salaries). A division the Department’s programing is dedicated to children, tweens and teens with special needs. This is an area of programming over the past six years the Department has fully embraced and developed with the partnership of the CORSE Foundation.
Another important function of the Recreation Department is the lifeguard services. We are responsible for training, staffing (30 plus guards) and equipping the Town’s five beaches (Minot, Egypt, Sandhills, Peggotty and Humarock). Beaches in Scituate are staffed from the end of June through Labor Day. All costs associated with the beaches are paid for through the Beach Sticker Revolving Account.
An additional significant role for the Recreation Department is the permitting of the Town’s 17 athletic fields, bandstand, in-line skating rink, tennis courts as well as basketball courts. Each permit requires an application, along with a certificate of insurance naming the Town of Scituate as an additional insured and if applicable, a confirmation from the Commonwealth that the organization is CORI certified. We issued 200 permits last year.
Last, the Recreation Commission is heavily involved with the permitted facilities upkeep and development. The Commission works closely with the Community Preservation Committee in the grant process. Since CPC adoption, The Recreation Commission has written, submitted and approved eight grants (totaling over $1.8 million).
