News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date:	Wednesday, July 22, 1998
Contact:	Tom Brannan, Assistant City Manager, (703) 838-4300

Alexandria City Manager Appoints Sandra Whitmore as Director of the Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities

Alexandria City Manager Vola Lawson today appointed Sandra Whitmore of Chicago, Illinois, to be Director of the City's Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities. Ms. Whitmore currently serves as Superintendent, Division of Leisure Services for the Northbrook (Ill.) Park District that covers 20 square miles in suburban Chicago and serves a population of 32,000. She will begin her new position in Alexandria on September 1.

"Sandra Whitmore brings to the City more than 20 years of management experience in local government recreation programs and services, and she has won national recognition for her leadership in the field of parks and recreation," said Mrs. Lawson. "We are delighted to welcome her to Alexandria," she added.

Ms. Whitmore will take charge of a department that operates and supports a diverse array of recreation programs, park facilities and arts activities. The City operates eight heavily used neighborhood recreation centers, many of them co-located with public elementary schools, as well as youth and adult sports program, and recreation programs for seniors and others with special needs. The Department has 117 full-time employees and a FY 1999 operating budget of $11.9 million. The Department maintains 550 acres of parkland and is presently developing two new parks, Ben Brenman Park and the West End Park, at Cameron Station. The Department also provides staff and financial support for the activities of the Alexandria Commission for the Arts.

As Superintendent of the Northbrook District's Leisure Services Division since 1989, Ms. Whitmore oversees the operation of a wide variety of recreational programs and services, including camps, day care programs, nursery school, cultural arts, senior programs, aquatic and fitness programs, indoor and outdoor ice skating, in-line skating and tennis. The District's facilities include a sports center, outdoor ice rinks, an in-line skating/outdoor hockey rink, an aquatic center, a theatre, a senior center, a community center, a velodrome and multiple ball fields and courts. In 1996, the Park District won the National Recreation and Parks Association's Gold Medal, and programs within the Leisure Services Division have won two state innovative program awards in the past seven years. Ms. Whitmore previously served as Superintendent of Recreation Services for the Park District of Highland Park, Illinois, from 1982 to 1989, and as Superintendent of Recreation for the Park District of Winnetka, Illinois, from 1975 to
1982.

Ms. Whitmore has a master's degree in recreation and parks administration from Western Illinois University and a bachelor's degree in physical education from the University of Nebraska.

She is a member of the American Academy for Parks and Recreation Administration, the National Parks and Recreation Association, and a founding member of the Highland Park Cultural Arts Commission.