Why This Matters
Littleton families love their P&R programs. Camp Tahattawan, Long Lake Beach, youth sports, community education, after-school programs — these are experiences families plan around, return to year after year, and count on as part of what makes Littleton a great place to raise a family. The Kennedy family has been part of this community since 2007, and James has spent nearly two decades running a youth program alongside this department.
PRCE’s dedicated staff have navigated a difficult few years — a major relocation to 36 King Street, organizational changes, and staffing transitions — all while keeping those programs running. They deserve recognition for that, and they deserve better tools to do their jobs.
Smart technology doesn’t replace the people Littleton families know at the front desk, on the sidelines, and at the beach. It frees them from the paper chase — so they can spend more time where it counts. Every hour saved on manual booking, phone calls, and email routing is an hour a staff member can spend with your kids.
Funding & Financial Sustainability
PRCE programs, events, and program staff are funded through program fees and revenues — not Town tax dollars. The Town does fund the salaries of the director and assistant directors. Long Lake Beach operations are similarly self-funded through membership and daily fees. [Source ↗] A Youth Scholarship Fund exists and accepts donations to help qualifying families access programs. Every dollar saved through smarter operations protects program quality and keeps fees manageable. In this self-funded model, efficiency matters.
What This Looks Like for a Littleton Family
| Situation | Today | With James’s Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Booking a court or field | PDF form or phone call during work hours | Online request from your phone, any time |
| Fay Park permit | Manual paper chase across 3 town departments | One online submission, automatically routed |
| Quick questions | Call during office hours (closed weekends) | Answered online 24/7 from approved P&R info |
| Staff transition | Requests can be lost in a departed employee’s inbox | Every request tracked in a shared system |
| 36 King Street spaces | No online reservation request available. Contact office directly. | Full visibility and streamlined online requests for all community spaces |
The 36 King Street Opportunity
The town purchased and renovated the former Indian Hill Music School at 36 King Street for $3.5 million, relocating PRCE there in mid-2025. The building has a theater, conference rooms, a clubhouse, activity rooms, and a teaching kitchen. Progress is being made — the LPS Conference Room (102) is now listed as “Open” in MyRec as of March 28, 2026. However, none of the six spaces currently have an online reservation request option. James will initiate the transition of these spaces to the online request system as a Day One priority — working with IT, P&R staff, and town administration to ensure this $3.5M community investment is fully accessible to residents as quickly as possible.
The spaces at 36 King Street in the MyRec system (as of March 28, 2026): Activity Kitchen (114A) — Closed, Activity Room (114) — Closed, LPS Conference Room (102) — Open, PRCE Conference Room (104) — Closed, The Clubhouse (LL1) — Closed, and Theater (115) — Closed. [Source ↗]The LPS Conference Room being listed as open is a positive sign of progress. The remaining spaces have no online request path — the P&R office is the only option.
A Note on School Facilities
Many P&R programs already run in school buildings — reflecting a strong cooperative relationship between PRCE and the School Department. Building a unified community calendar that makes all shared public spaces easier to find and request — school facilities included — is a goal James will pursue through conversations with School and Town leadership. This is a shared opportunity, not a jurisdictional dispute.
Modernizing Our Workflow
PRCE operates within roughly 70–80 spaces including facilities and fields — excluding partner spaces and locations on private property.[Source ↗]All are accessible today through PDF applications, email, phone, or in-person contact. Only 7 currently accept online reservation requests through MyRec: the Preschool Room at Littleton Town Hall, three courts at 300 King Park, Fay Park, and Long Lake Beach. These are requests only — they require staff review and approval before taking effect.
The MyRec reservation request system is active and functional for those 7 spaces, but it is not prominently linked from the main town website’s facility directory — meaning many residents are unlikely to find it.[Source ↗]Booking Fay Park for a community event requires endorsements from three separate town departments — Police, Fire, and Highway — before a permit can be approved.[Source ↗] Today that routing is done manually on paper. Each department still needs to review and approve; that human judgment is right and appropriate. What smart technology changes is the routing, tracking, and communication around that review — sending requests simultaneously, tracking responses, and keeping the applicant informed throughout. The result: faster for families, less administrative burden for staff.
When a P&R staff member leaves, booking requests, maintenance reports, and inquiries in their email inbox are at risk of being lost. A resident who emailed about booking a space receives an autoresponse: “This person no longer works for the Town.” A ticket system routes every incoming email to a shared queue — so no request is lost, no resident is left without a response, and the transition is invisible to the family waiting to hear back. James Kennedy has implemented this exact solution for MBA Team clients.
The Path Forward
A P&R Commissioner does not implement technology — that is a job for IT staff, town administration, and the right vendors. A Commissioner advocates, convenes, and champions. James will work with the Select Board, Town Manager, and IT department to evaluate the right tools, build a clear case for any investment needed, and ensure implementation is done responsibly. The investment is likely modest relative to the town’s overall operational spending.
Step 1 — Evaluate Existing Contracts First
Before recommending any new spending, the first step is understanding what the town already pays for:
- Microsoft 365 — Confirmed active. Depending on the license tier, tools like Power Automate, SharePoint, and Microsoft Bookings may already be available for workflows and scheduling. What does the current license include?
- MyRec — Already active for 7 spaces. Expanding to cover 36 King Street may be a configuration change within the existing contract. What would it cost?
- CivicPlus — Powers the town website. Facility reservation modules may already be available. Is this in Littleton’s current contract?
Step 2 — Potential Technology Upgrade Options
The following industry-standard tools represent specific opportunities to modernize PRCE workflows. James will advocate for evaluating these options to determine which provide the highest return on investment for Littleton.
- 36 King Street spaces online — Transitioning the remaining 36 King Street spaces and athletic fields into the existing MyRec online request system. This utilizes a platform the town already pays for to provide residents with 24/7 visibility and booking requests.
- Grounded AI Resident Assistants — A 24/7 chatbot specifically programmed to answer routine questions using only the official PRCE knowledge base. This provides immediate answers for families while shielding staff from high-volume, repetitive email inquiries.
- Centralized Request & Ticket Tracking —Implementing a shared “inbox” system for all bookings and maintenance. This ensures that even during staff transitions, every resident request is logged, assigned, and visible to the department—preventing inquiries from being lost in individual email accounts.
- Automated Workflow Routing — Digital “smart forms” for complex permits (like Fay Park or Long Lake Beach). Instead of a manual paper chase, the system automatically routes the request to Police, Fire, and Highway simultaneously for their required professional review.
- A unified community calendar — Making PRCE spaces — and eventually shared school facilities — visible in one place, linked from the main town website.
- Staff Professional Development — The most important investment. New tools only help if people use them confidently. Proper onboarding for P&R staff is not optional.
This proposal requires collaboration across town government — not just PRCE. The Select Board and Town Manager need to be partners in evaluating contracts, approving investment, and coordinating across departments. James Kennedy will bring the business case for any spending to the right decision-makers through the right process, backed by his MBA background and direct experience implementing these tools for clients at MBA Team, Inc.
Facility Reference Table
Key spaces referenced in this proposal. The complete and current facility list is at littletonma.myrec.com/info/facilities/default.aspx.
| Facility | Address | Listed Online | Online Request | Contact | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 36 King St — 6 Spaces Theater, Conf. Rooms, Clubhouse, Activity Rooms ↗ |
36 King Street | Mixed | No | Office only | LPS Conf. Room (102) listed as Open as of 3/28/26 but no online request available. 5 spaces still Closed. Priority 1. |
| Fay Park ↗ | 20 Foster Road | Yes | Request | PDF / Email / Phone | 14-day processing. 3-dept endorsement required. |
| Long Lake Beach ↗ | 20 Town Road | Yes | Request | PDF / Email / Phone | Self-funded. 3 unintegrated booking mechanisms. |
| 300 King Park — 3 Courts ↗ Lower Basketball, Upper Left, Upper Right |
300 King Street | Yes | Request | MyRec online | 3 of 7 spaces in MyRec. Staff approval required. |
| Castle in the Trees ↗ | 300 King Street | Yes | No | Email / Phone | Contact P&R office. |
| Kaye Gymnasium ↗ | 55 Russell St | Partial | No | School Dept | School Dept facility. P&R programs run here. Goal: include in community calendar. |
| Fire Station Meeting Room ↗ | 20 Foster Street | Yes | No | 60 max occupancy. | |
| MyRec System — 7 spaces ↗ Preschool Room + 3 courts + Fay Park + Long Lake Beach |
littletonma.myrec.com | Partial | Request | Online request | Active but not linked from main town site. All requests need staff approval. |
Guiding Principles for Smart Technology
James Kennedy’s support for modernizing PRCE operations comes with a clear set of commitments. Technology is a tool — it should serve residents and staff, not the other way around.
- Enterprise security first. Any tool adopted must operate within the town’s existing secure infrastructure. Consumer-grade tools that process resident data outside a governed environment will not be considered.
- Privacy protection. Resident data is collected in trust. Any system must comply with Massachusetts public records law, limit data collection to what is necessary, and never share information with third parties.
- Human review on approvals. Space usage guidelines and eligibility requirements exist for good reasons. Automation routes and tracks requests — the appropriate person still makes the approval decision.
- Grounded AI only. Any resident-facing chatbot or AI tool will draw answers only from an official, staff-maintained PRCE knowledge base — not generate free-form responses. AI-generated content may not always be 100% correct, and residents should be directed to P&R staff for complex or sensitive questions.
- Transparency. Residents should know when technology plays a role in a process that affects them — communicated clearly, not buried in fine print.
- Regular review. Tools should be evaluated periodically and reported on to the P&R Commission and Select Board.
The programs Littleton families love deserve a department with the tools to sustain and grow them. That means freeing dedicated P&R staff from the paper chase — so they can spend more time on the sidelines of games and at the beach with our families. It means making a $3.5 million community investment actually bookable. And it means building the kind of coordinated, modern operation that serves every Littleton resident well for years to come.
James Kennedy has spent nearly two decades running a youth program alongside this department, and as President of MBA Team, Inc. has personally implemented these tools for clients. He knows what responsible implementation looks like. As Commissioner, he will work alongside P&R staff, the Select Board, and the Town Manager to make it happen.
Vote James Kennedy — Park & Recreation Commissioner
Election Day: Saturday, May 9, 2026 · kennedyforlittleton.com
Paid for by the Committee to Elect James Kennedy, Littleton MA
Sources — All Links Verified March 2026
- PRCE Facility List — littletonma.myrec.com/info/facilities
- PRCE Department Information & Facility Use Forms — littletonma.myrec.com/info/dept
- MyRec Online Reservation Request System — littletonma.myrec.com/info/datacart/reservations
- Littleton Facilities & Parks Directory — littletonma.org/Facilities
- P&R Department page and office hours — littletonma.org/158/Parks-Recreation-Community-Education
- Long Lake Beach self-funding — littletonma.org/FAQ.aspx?QID=146
- Long Lake Beach — littletonma.org/606/Long-Lake-Beach
- Long Lake Beach Rental Request — littletonma.org/625/Long-Lake-Beach-Rental-Request
- Fay Park — littletonma.org/Facilities/Facility/Details/Fay-Park-5
- Castle in the Trees — littletonma.org/Facilities/Facility/Details/Castle-In-The-TreesAidens-Playground-300-4
- Fire Station Meeting Room — littletonma.org/Facilities/Facility/Details/Fire-Station-Meeting-Room-9
- Littleton IT Department / Microsoft 365 — littletonma.org/255/Information-Technology
- 36 King Street purchase — Special Town Meeting February 15, 2023, Article 7: Purchase of Indian Hill Music School, passed by necessary 2/3rds vote.
- PRCE relocation timeline — Special Town Meeting Feb. 15, 2023; November 2023 ATM; May 2024 ATM; October 2024 STM; Park Commission minutes June 2025 and January 2026.
- 2026 Candidate Intentions — littletonma.org/DocumentCenter/View/10934