James River Park System Superintendent Bryce Wilk (Photo by Jay Paul)
At the James River Park System’s headquarters off Riverside Drive, Park Superintendent Bryce Wilk shifts his gaze to the large, north-facing glass window as some kayakers drift by.
“We talk about having the best views of all the city employees — we’re right on the river,” he says. “Today, you’re looking out on that island and there are deer running through there. You get to see all the different types of waterfowl floating downstream. We’ve had mink going across the edge of the shoreline over there, and then, of course, you get the bald eagles and the great blue herons and osprey flying by, too.”
For Wilk, who started working with the park system in January, it’s a dream job. “You have to pinch yourself sometimes,” he says.
A native of New York’s Hudson Valley region, Wilk attended the College of William & Mary, fell in love with Virginia and decided to make his home here. After serving as assistant manager at Pocahontas State Park for four years, he took over the superintendent role at the James River Park System from Nathan Burrell, who moved up to become facility maintenance manager for the Richmond Department of Parks, Recreation & Community Facilities’ Southern Division, overseeing James River Park, Forest Hill Park and other parks south of the river, as well as the new Trails and Greenway Division.
The job of superintendent comes with a hefty responsibility, though. Wilk stepped in just as the park system launched a series of community meetings and an online survey to gather input for a new master plan — the first to be undertaken in more than a half century, before the system was fully established.
Factors such as the steadily rising numbers of people visiting the park system, the need for environmental protection, and a relatively small staff and operating budget make it necessary to prioritize projects and maximize resources, both human and financial.
With a plan in place that incorporates the wishes of city taxpayers and park enthusiasts, the system can pursue improvements as funding becomes available through the city or other sources in a way that’s proactive, rather than reactive, Wilk says.
A beloved natural resource that has increasingly come to identify Richmond — named the “best river town in America” by Outside magazine in 2012 — the park system has seen its visitation climb from 1.3 million people in 2015 to nearly 2 million in 2018.
Park visitors along the rocks at Belle Isle (Photo by Tina Eshleman)
They come to wade and swim, to sunbathe and have picnics, to run races, to hike and ride trails, to navigate on kayaks and paddle boards, and to scale the Manchester climbing wall.
“We fit a lot into the James River Park System,” Wilk says. “You would be hard-pressed to find all four of those major activities of climbing, running, biking and different paddle sports all in one spot, especially in an urban environment.”
The park system’s seven full-time staff members oversee roughly 600 acres, including over 40 miles of trails and extending from Huguenot Flatwater to Ancarrow’s Landing, with an annual operating budget of about $341,000.
Fortunately, they don’t have to work alone. In 2017, for example, the park system estimated that more than 1,800 volunteers put in over 7,000 hours doing work such as invasive plant and graffiti removal, trail upkeep, and trash pickup.
Wilk coordinates a volunteer group from SunTrust Mortgage. (Photo by Jay Paul)
Katherine Mitchell, president of the Friends of the James River Park board, says the ideal number of full-time park employees would be 15 — more than twice the present staffing level.
“It really is kind of up to the people that love the park to kind of step up and do what needs to be done,” she says. But volunteers need direction. “A lot of people want to roll up their sleeves and help. In order to be able to leverage all that enthusiasm and talent, you need a guiding document so everybody can plug in.”
President of Friends of the James River Park Katherine Mitchell (Photo courtesy Katherine Mitchell)
Mitchell, who is also vice president of community engagement at the Community Idea Stations public broadcasting company, became involved with the park system about five years ago after hearing Burrell, the former superintendent, speak at a Leadership Metro Richmond dinner about the park system and its small budget.
“I came home that night and became a friend of James River Park because I’m in the park all the time,” she says.
Soon afterward, Mitchell joined the organization’s board as secretary, then vice president. In the latter role, she headed the steering committee for the master plan and helped raise the $250,000 in private funds that are paying for its development by Hargreaves Associates, which created the downtown Richmond Riverfront Plan, and VHB (Vanasse Hangen Brustlin Inc.), a civil engineering consulting and design firm that worked on the T. Tyler Potterfield Memorial Bridge.
During public meetings held in each of the city’s nine districts, and through online surveys and in-person interviews with people at popular fishing spots, the park system has received nearly 3,000 responses, Mitchell says.
Suggestions include installing restroom facilities; expanding the trail system; adding boat take-in and take-out points; improving accessibility for those with disabilities; and bringing dedicated police, fire or emergency medical responders to the park system. Law enforcement officers currently cover the park as part of a wider area, although the park system does pay overtime for officers on busy summer weekends.
Another idea is to establish a welcome center or education center to accommodate schoolchildren and other groups.
“You’re sitting in our main education classroom, our main meeting space, our main office area,” Wilk says. “We’re trying to do this all out of our headquarters right here.”
The park system is also looking for ways to improve access via public transportation and pedestrian and bicycle pathways, and to connect trails so that visitors don’t have to go out onto a road with motor vehicle traffic. One such project, the half-mile North Bank Connector between the Texas Beach parking lot and Maymont, just opened last week, thanks largely to the efforts of volunteers, park system trail crew members and funding from the Friends of the James River Park and trail advocacy group RvaMore.
Other considerations include a plan to restore the historic Pump House near the Carillon at Byrd Park, and whether to renovate or tear down some of the park system’s underused structures.
Wilk expects the park system to present a draft master plan during a public meeting in June. It would then go to the mayor’s office and City Council for approval and become part of the Richmond Riverfront Plan and the Richmond 300 citywide master plan.
“What’s important to me is that we have a shared vision of what we want the park to be,” Mitchell says. “It’s a great asset to the city, and everybody who loves the park can help it in different ways. I think this master plan is really going to help pull us all together for the long-term enjoyment of the park.”
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