Shippensburg Community Parks & Recreation Authority

— GET TO KNOW THE SCPRA —

The Shippensburg Community Parks and Recreation Authority (SCPRA) is the main source of recreational programming and events in the immediate Shippensburg area. The SCPRA was created in 2015 to serve as a Park & Rec Department for joining municipalities in the region. Currently, the Shippensburg Borough and Southampton Township Franklin County are partners.

The nature of it’s creation was to encompass the greater good for all of Shippensburg — with a focus on unifying and housing one centralized entity to meet the recreational needs of our residents without any divisiveness about boundaries.

The SCPRA remains committed to serving everyone and fostering relationships that will help create community support that will lead to us meeting our goals and objectives — our mission is to be the local leader for activities, programs, and fun events.

Reaching our goals and objectives — takes support and an understanding of who we are. Under the direction of our leadership, which includes Park & Rec Director Josh Mitchell and two part-time employees, as well as a five-member board, we believe in working together, community development, and doing what’s in the best interest of our youth to build a better future.

The SCPRA’s hope is to be at the forefront of positive change and make an impact built on instilling a love for community that resonates pride. We need your help, and together, we can make a difference in making our community a great place to be!

NEW DIRECTOR HIRED In November 2022

We welcomed a new Parks & Recreation Director for the Shippensburg Community, Mr. Joshua Mitchell, on November 21, 2022! Josh brings nearly 10 years of experience in the field, coming to us from the City of Hagerstown (MD) Parks and Recreation Department. While being from Maryland originally, our new director has been in Shippensburg going on four years now and is passionate about, prideful in, and devoted to this community. Josh also serves in his hometown community, where he has dedicated two decades of time in volunteer and support staff roles, helping with youth athletics and investing his time back in to public service — he said “people who know me would likely describe me as someone who cares about others in a selfless manner, I have a reputation of going out of my way to put others’ advancement first”. As we move forward, we are enthusiastic about Josh’s approach to bring fun and enjoyable activities to our residents as well as confident in his desire to build unity for us all. Since his hiring, Josh continues to rework policies and procedures for the SCPRA and build relationship with community leaders in an effort to restore value towards a recreational outlook and find resolution impacting a positive future.

SCPRA Public Meetings

The Board of Administration monthly on the 1st Thursdays at 5:00 PM. Meetings will be held at Southampton Township Franklin County Municipal Building. The agenda is available under the About Us tab under Agendas. Any public comments may be submitted by email to office@shippensburgparkandrec.org by 4:00 pm on the Tuesday before the meeting. The public comments will be read to the board.