Last year was a “Lego year” for Excelsior Springs regarding parks and recreation, according to Nate Williams.

Williams, city parks and recreation and community center director, gave that assessment when presenting the Parks and Recreation Department’s annual report for 2021 during the June 6 City Council meeting at the Hall of Waters. After almost no activity during 2020 because of the COVID pandemic, 2021 was a “rebuild year,” he said.

One part of the rebuilding process involved opening Rainbow Splash Park.

“It took us a few years to get it (open), but we got it (done),” Williams said.

Specifically, the park “took three years and a lot of hours to become a reality,” he said, reading from one of his PowerPoint slides.

The city saved more than $200,000 by using inhouse labor for much of the project, Williams said.

“That was a huge help to be able to get the park built as cheaply as possible,” he said. The park has “been a huge, huge hit so far this year,”

The park has “been a huge, huge hit so far this year,” Mayor Pro Tem Stephen Spear said.

“(It) should be popular this summer,” Williams said.

And as Williams pointed out, the department rebuilt itself with some restructuring. Late in the year, the Excelsior Springs Community Center and the Parks and Recreation Department “kind of joined,” with Williams heading up both, he recalled. They are listed as distinct departments, however, for budgetary purposes, he said.

Blending the departments meant overcoming a few tech-related obstacles, Williams acknowledged.

“That was quite a challenge – joining two websites that were pretty established into one, along with our email addresses,” he said.

Another part of the rebuilding involved adding a cardio drum class at the community center. Participants use drumsticks to pound on a medicine ball, Williams said.

“That’s a great exercise,” he said. “But it’s also lifted up to them sitting in a chair, so they don’t have to bend over for it. It’s a really good adaption to the pound class.”

The class “is a hit, you might say,” Williams joked.

Participants in last year’s Earth Day cleanup event, on the other hand, worked to help rebuild the planet. As one slide showed, there were 120 hours donated, saving the city roughly $3,264.