Staff photo by Clay Schuldt New Ulm Park and Recreation Director Tom Schmitz test the equipment at Aquatic Center. The creation of the aquatic center was of the major events of Schmitz’s 18 years working for New Ulm. Schmitz is set to retire at the end of the month.

NEW ULM — After 18 years as New Ulm’s Park and Recreation Director, Tom Schmitz announced he is retiring effective April 28.

“I am extremely thankful and grateful to have been a part of the wonderful City of New Ulm staff for nearly 18 years,” Schmitz said. “Additionally, I’ve been very fortunate to have been a part of numerous other excellent parks, trails, and recreation staff teams over my 45-year career in the profession.”

Eighteen years as a Park and Director is an impressive feat in any community, but in New Ulm, it is a monumental undertaking. The city has over 40 park units, making it the community with one of the largest parks, trails and recreation systems per capita in the United States.

Schmitz is humble about his work, saying “I am greatly appreciative to be part of a wonderful staff team, working with many fantastic volunteers.”

Schmitz said the top reason for New Ulm’s large park system is due to the two local options sales tax projects that voters approved in 2000 and 2016. Schmitz refers to these projects as the Reinvest in New Ulm (RENU) projects.

Schmitz officially took over as Park and Rec. Director on July 5, 2005. The first RENU project, which included the creation of the Civic Center, tripling of the Community Center and converting Vogel arena to a fieldhouse was complete. Though Schmitz was not director when the first RENU referendum passed, he was serving as a volunteer Park & Rec Commissioner.

Schmitz would be in the director’s position when it came time to approve a second RENU referendum. The second RENU was approved by voters in 2016. In the lead-up to the vote, Schmitz worked hard promoting the projects. The second RENU included improvements to Johnson Ballpark; improvements to the Hermann Heights Parking lot and expansions to Recreation Center. The Recreation Center alone saw the addition of a gymnastic center, wellness center, indoor playground and new aquatic center.

Schmitz said his involvement with RENU was the largest project of his career and dramatically change New Ulm. The RENU projects were completed during the aftermath of the COVID pandemic, which offered its own set of challenges.

“I have not found a community in the nation with a larger system per capita,” Schmidtz said. In addition to the RENU projects that were several historic sites like Hermann Heights Park, Kiesling House and the Glockenspiel.

“It is a fantastic system that not only residents but visitors, enjoy and utilize,” he said.

Schmitz said some of the other highlights in his tenure as director were the creation of new parks like the dog park and pollinator park. Other parks were improved like the Trap and Skeet range which is now heavily used by the local high schools.

The old Franklin School House in Riverside Park was stabilized and turned into the Environmental Learning Center by a local non-profit.

Schmitz said he was pleased to see the completion of the amphitheater project in German Park, which took considerable time to design and implement.

Schmitz thanked the many non-profits and donors who made the creation of new parks and the renovation of old parks possible.

Looking to the future, Schmitz said he plans to remain in the New Ulm community with his wife Kim. Schmitz said they do intend to travel around North America and visit park systems around the nation.

“In the recreation industry we work when others play,” Schmitz said. “I’ve spent 45 years focusing on public recreation and assisting the public to play. What I plan to do in retirement is focus on personal play with my family and friends.”

In his final days as a director, Schmitz is preparing a list for his successor. The next Park and Rec. Director has not been selected yet, but Schmitz believes their next big project will be the restoration and rebuilding of the Hermann Monument. That project will call for the deconstruction of the monument and the creation of blue prints to reassemble the monument.

In another decade, the new director will need to begin planning for the third round of RENU projects. Schmitz said approval of other RENU projects will come down to the city council and voters, but Schmitz said as a citizen he will be encouraging his city councilor to work toward the reauthorization of RENU.

Schmitz’s final day as Park and Recreation Director is Friday, April 28 but before then he will be inducted into the Recreation, Parks and Leisure Services (RPLS) Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony will be held Friday, April 14 at Minnesota State University in the Centennial Student Union Ballroom.