Lipe named parks director for City of Jackson

Jason Lipe was named at Monday's Jackson Board of Aldermen meeting to succeed Shane West Anderson as the municipality's director of Parks and Recreation.

Lipe, a Carbondale, Illinois, native and graduate of Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, has been manager of the Jackson Civic Center since it opened Jan. 24, 2016.

Previously, Lipe worked at the Southeast Missouri State University campus recreation center for more than 10 years. When he left the position, he was associate director of programs.

Anderson, who officially retires Feb. 9, has led the municipality's parks program for 24 years.

Lipe — who takes the new position Jan. 1, working with Anderson for about a month — will lead a parks department with five full-time employees and will have oversight over the municipal recreational trail system plus five parks, including 88-acre City Park, the municipality's oldest, established in 1933.

Other parks in the system: Brookside Park (41 acres), Litz Park (37 acres), Soccer Park (27 acres) and Jackson Football Park (20 acres).

"I'm grateful for this new role and our citizens are very much interested in our park system," Lipe said Monday.

Asked for a reaction to the failure of November's use-tax initiative, which promised upgrades to Jackson parks, Lipe said the city will continue to be creative when it comes to funding.

"We'll continue to apply for grants and will pursue sponsorships," he said.