New Cape Girardeau parks director takes helm today

Julia Thompson has lived and worked almost all of her life in Florida, a state she has always adored. She speaks of the Sunshine State in glowing terms, talking of its beautiful mystique, gorgeous scenery and plentiful environmental gems.

But some of Thompson's favorite childhood memories are of the many long, lazy summers she spent in Cape Girardeau.

"My grandparents lived here so every summer, because my parents were retired, we could spend all summer long here," Thompson said. "From the day school let out, until the day it started, I spent most of my summers here in Cape -- playing in the parks."

She didn't know it at the time, but those times swimming at Capaha Park pool, having picnics at Arena Park or playing at what is now Kiwanis Park may have served as a launchpad for a long career that has culminated with her new job as the city's new director of Parks and Recreation.

Thompson, 52, takes the helm today, replacing Dan Muser, who retired in March after a 25-year career with the department.

Thompson has a long career in parks and recreation herself. She gained three decades of experience in Florida, though she was born in Cabool, Mo. She has worked in Florida parks departments in Cape Coral, Collier County, Kissimmee and Osceola County.

'An incredible choice'

People who have worked with Thompson speak highly of her. She worked for years for Dan Loubier, the parks and recreation director in Kissimmee. He said Friday that Thompson, who rose through the ranks to become recreation superintendent, was an exemplary colleague and friend.

"She is one of the top recreational professionals in the country," Loubier said. "Everything she touches turns to gold. She's good at assessing things, finding great solutions. She's a great visionary and has foresight into what's important to residents. She's really a steward of the land.

"You guys made an incredible choice."

Thompson takes over a department of 53 full-time and about 200 part-time personnel and a 2011 budget of $5.4 million. The department is responsible for the care and upkeep of the 26 city parks totaling 665 acres, as well as three community centers, a swimming pool, the water park, two sports complexes, a golf course, three cemeteries and 11 miles of hiking and biking trails.

While Thompson said she will always cherish her years in Florida, she feels like coming to Cape Girardeau is part of the natural progression of her career. Plus, her mother was born and lives here and she has other strong ties to the community. She even attended her freshman year of college at Southeast Missouri State University.

She also credits her mother, Marge Thompson, with helping cultivate her love of the outdoors.

"My mom was a Girl Scout leader, so I was always outside and doing a lot of different activities," Thompson said.

Thompson believes her time in Florida at several departments means she brings a diverse perspective to the job here. She helped grow the different departments, overseeing rapidly growing parks systems and the creation of dozens of new parks across the state. She's helped draft master plans, oversaw the construction of new facilities and feels she brings a balanced perspective of what a community needs and what its residents want.

"I think all of those things help strategically," she said. "How do we maintain and improve our level of service to the citizens, but yet impact the environment as little as possible? That's the goal."

Thompson said it wouldn't be fair to assess Cape Girardeau's parks systems yet, but she intends to spend the first few months on the job getting of feel of the city's strengths and identifying room for improvement.

"I'll be evaluating all that, things that are done well and things we need to work on," she said.

But she said she loves the challenge. When city manager Scott Meyer introduced her to the city council last week, he said he knew Thompson would take the city's parks and recreation systems from "good to great."

"It's a great opportunity," she said. "I've always striven to produce the best quality programs. I want the ensure that we're giving the citizens of Cape Girardeau the highest quality possible with the resources we can provide."

While there's no doubt she'll miss Florida, when she was offered the job here, Thompson said she had no reservations.

"None," she said. "I think I was just ready. Maybe I've worked my entire career in Florida for this moment."

smoyers@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

410 Kiwanis Drive, Cape Girardeau, MO