NRPA honors Columbia’s signature downtown park for design, accessibility and community impact<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n
The City of Columbia has announced that Finlay Park has been selected as the recipient of the 2026 Innovation in Park Design Award from the National Recreation and Park Association, a national honor recognizing excellence and innovation in parks and recreation design.<\/p>\n
The award recognizes park and recreation agencies across the country that strengthen communities through transformative public spaces and forward-thinking investments.<\/p>\n
“This award represents more than recognition for a park renovation,” said Assistant City Manager Henry Simons. “It reflects the City’s ongoing commitment to investing in public spaces that strengthen community, encourage connection, and enhance quality of life. We are proud of what Finlay Park has become and excited about its future impact on Columbia.”<\/p>\n
Finlay Park, which celebrated its grand reopening on Nov. 15, is being recognized for a revitalization effort that transformed Columbia’s signature downtown park into a modern, accessible and community-focused destination designed to serve residents and visitors for generations to come.<\/p>\n
“Together, with community support, the vision of elected leadership over the years, and the hard work and dedication of so many, we have brought Finlay Park into an exciting new chapter,” said City Manager Teresa Wilson. “Today, Finlay Park stands as an award-winning destination that has been embraced by our community and visitors alike.”<\/p>\n
Since reopening, the park has quickly reestablished itself as a centerpiece for recreation, entertainment and community gatherings, attracting thousands of visitors and hosting major events that have brought renewed energy to downtown Columbia.<\/p>\n
“When we set out to reimagine Finlay Park, we were intentional about creating a transformative space that honors our history while reflecting the bold future of our Capital City,” said Mayor Daniel J. Rickenmann. “Together, we did it, and we have built something that will bring our community together for generations to come.”<\/p>\n
The NRPA announced the 2026 award recipients on May 20, recognizing agencies nationwide for innovation in park design, health and wellness, environmental resilience and creating parks for all. Award winners will be recognized during the 2026 NRPA Annual Conference in Philadelphia this September.<\/p>\n
“Congratulations to these outstanding awardees who are shaping the future of parks and recreation with passion and purpose,” said Kristine Stratton. “Their work is a powerful reflection of the impact parks and recreation have in communities nationwide.”<\/p>\n
For more information, visit National Recreation and Park Association<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NRPA honors Columbia’s signature downtown park for design, accessibility and community impact The City of Columbia has announced that Finlay Park has been selected as the recipient of the 2026 Innovation in Park Design Award from the National Recreation and Park Association, a national honor recognizing excellence and innovation inContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8613,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[31],"tags":[147,1180],"class_list":["entry","author-john-griggs","post-8612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-community-news","tag-city-of-columbia","tag-finlay-park"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gpstrianglenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Finlay-Park_2026_630x350.jpg?fit=630%2C350&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8612\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}