Leader of the pack: world-renown scholar John L. Crompton has changed the concept of parks and recreation

Parks & Recreation, Feb, 2005

Two years after moving to America, John L. Crompton presented an educational session at NRPAs annual congress in 1976. Even though he was the leader in marketing parks and recreation in his native United Kingdom, Crompton stood in front of only a handful of people in Boston, Mass. "It was totally embarrassing," Crompton remembers. "Nobody at that time realized marketing, which is something business-related, had anything to do with parks and recreation."

But Crompton's dedication to the issue prompted his return to congress in 1978--one year after California's Proposition 13 slashed property taxes by 30 percent and capped its rate of increase. Tax money once enjoyed by municipal departments soon diminished, and the fight for dollars began. By the time Crompton appeared in New Orleans, La., to give a presentation, the room was packed.

Conquering England

Being a long-distance runner his whole life, studying recreation seemed a natural fit for Crompton, but he discovered England did not offer anything close to a park and/or recreation degree. So he traveled to America and received a master's degree in leisure studies from the University of Illinois in 1968. Less than one year later, a program for a specialized MBA in recreation management began in England, and Crompton immediately joined the program. Shortly thereafter, he started the Loughborough Recreation Planning Consultants company, which specialized in feasibility studies, design, planning and management of public and private park facilities.

From 1945 to 1969, England had only one public recreation center. Between 1969 and 1974, 400 public recreation and swimming facilities were built, mostly by Crompton's company. Within a matter of five years, Crompton reached the top of a field he single-handedly created in England. But his quick ascent came just as quickly to a halt, when at age 30 he had no further opportunities.

Conquering America

Crompton decided to move to America in 1974 mainly because of his American-born wife, Elizabeth Stradley. The family moved to Texas, where Les Reid, thunder of Texas A&M's Recreation, Park and Tourism department, recruited Crompton to teach and get his doctorate degree.

It is because of Texas A&M that Crompton's research has flourished in the recreation, tourism, sport and marketing fields.

Perhaps his greatest contribution is introducing business concepts to people who felt more comfortable being out in the field than in a meeting.

After more than 15 years of research, Crompton eventually focused his marketing theory on the economic value public lands have on neighboring communities. In his groundbreaking book, "Financing and Aquiring Park and Recreation Resources," published in 1999, Crompton introduced a concept that to this day has yet to be realized nationwide. That "the majority of citizens in our communities are not regular users of recreation facilities," he says. "So you reach this conclusion that you have a small user base, who is highly satisfied, but you need 51 percent to win a referendum and you need a huge body of support ... at budget time against all the other folks competing for the general fund."

A World of Triumph

For his passion, Crompton has been rewarded by his peers. In 1999, he received the Honorable Cornelius Amory Pugsley Award, placing him in the company of Alfred A. Knopf, Ira J. Hutchinson and R. Dean Tice. He also became a Distinguished Professor, a title given by his colleagues because they considered him to be in the top five percent of the field worldwide.

Though Crompton's work has already impacted the way the park and recreation field conducts itself, the 60-year old will continue to espouse his economic impact theory, shifting his main focus to the relocation of retirees and their economic impact on parks and recreation.