Ernest William Nance
Cornelius Amory Pugsley Local Medal Award, 1997

Ernest W. Nance (1934 - ) received the Pugsley Medal in 1997. Nance was born in Amboy, Illinois, and attended high school in Mendota, Illinois. These were rural farming communities. He graduated from high school in 1953. It was the time of the Korean War, the military were recruiting aggressively, and like many of his peers, Nance joined the military direct from high school. He spent three years in the U.S. Marine Corps, including one year in Korea. He achieved the rank of sergeant and received an honorable discharge from the U.S. Marine Corps in 1956.

After the Marine Corps, he entered college to pursue a liberal arts degree but, after two years, a lack of funds forced him to withdrawal and take a job. He was an avid swimmer. Swimming in the lakes was the most popular recreational activity in his rural community, so he was hired by Bob Ruhe (Pugsley Medal 1970) as a recreation supervisor responsible for swimming pools at the Skokie Park District in Illinois. Ruhe was friendly with the chair of the parks and recreation department at Southern Illinois University, and advised Nance to go there and complete his undergraduate degree in the parks and recreation field, which he did from 1960-1962.

After he received a BS degree in recreation and outdoor education from Southern Illinois in 1962, Nance was appointed director of the Mundelein Park and Recreation District in Illinois. While in that position he received a sabbatical leave to complete an MS in parks and recreation administration at Indiana University in 1967. A local newspaper editorial later commented, "His leave of absence to earn a master's degree in the field has been paid ten times over, thanks to the knowledge he brought to the job here."

At Mundelein he implemented a master plan resulting in the addition of 122 acres of parks; constructed swimming pools; and introduced the idea of cooperating with the school system. Financing of the outdoor swimming pool was especially noteworthy because a local savings and loan association bought the municipal revenue bonds that were used to finance it. It was built next to a high school with a substantial donation from the contractor, and funds were raised by a door-to-door campaign enthusiastically endorsed by the local newspaper.

While at Mundelein, Nance was appointed to the IAPD/IPRA legislative committee and he remained as a member or chair of that committee for most of his Illinois career. Among its accomplishments in the early years were legislation permitting park districts to purchase/lease equipment or property over a five-year period; and authorizing one half of one percent of assessed valuation to be spend on bonds for infrastructure improvements. When he left Mundelein, a newspaper editorial stated, "Truly unselfish individuals are rare, but Mundelein found one in Ernie Nance. He always approaches the job setting high standards for himself...he has never acted rashly or without careful forethought for the task he had in mind. Ernie is a decisive man."

In 1968, Nance moved to Naperville, Illinois, to become the park district's first director. During his five years at Naperville, 31 parks were acquired totaling over 550 acres. In 1971, a major development was announced in Naperville that was projected to add 30,000 residents to the community with no plans for setting aside land for public parks for the additional residents. It was estimated that the cost of purchasing park land to serve these people could be $12 million. This provoked Nance to co-author the Naperville Land Cash Donation Ordinance in 1972. This ordinance became a test case in the courts for the concept of exactions in Illinois, and it was upheld by the Illinois State Supreme Court in 1976.

The operating budget reached $2.4 million by the end of his tenure at Naperville, and much of it was raised from user fees. Nance negotiated the transfer of nearly 300 acres of parks from the City of Naperville including the Martin Mitchell Museum. He worked with the newly-formed Heritage Society to create an 1850 village leveraging the developers to donate historic homes to what became Naper Settlement instead of destroying them. Nance also prepared the first grant application which purchased a 160-acre farm. This land was eventually turned into the first public golf course for Naperville and was funded from the sale of revenue bonds. Nance formed a 100-member citizens' task force which subsequently recommended ten areas the park district needed to address. Advisory committees became an integral part of the district operations thereafter.

Among his innovative programs was a "youth extension service" program for alienated youth. Youth were gathering on one of the bridges over the river each night to hang-out and were blocking traffic. The program placed an outreach youth worker with them who provided alternate programs and someone with whom they could talk. Nance also initiated a park police tax to provide security in parks by certified police officers.

His leadership efforts were recognized by the park district winning the National Gold Medal award in 1972. While there, he was elected president of the Illinois Park and Recreation Association. When Nance left Naperville, the mayor commented, "you have gotten the Naperville Park District off to a running start and carried it to a position of leadership in parks administration such as was not thought possible a few years ago."

In 1973, Nance became director of Park Ridge Recreation and Park District in Illinois. Nance's arrival at Park Ridge quickly resulted in a dramatic improvement in the park district's reputation in the community. A lead editorial in the Park Ridge Herald commented:

It has become increasingly apparent that the Park Board and Park District is taking on a more business-like, efficient and professional nature. The District's communication has vastly improved. Political rivalries and finagling have least gone into hiding if not somewhat disappeared. And park commissioners are leaving the actual operation of the Park District in the professional hands of the District's new director.

The trend in Nance's career to move to positions of increasing responsibility continued when he became director of Highland Park District in 1976. A major accomplishment was integration of the city recreation department into the park district. During his six year stay as director, the operating budget increased from $2.3 million to $6.5 million, with 62% of revenues coming from user fees. A new indoor tennis facility and a 100 acre nature center with a new interpretive center were build; the golf course was renovated; and a campaign initiated to encourage community residents to donate revenue bonds that were sold to finance renovation of the indoor arena, thus reducing the debt obligation. The second National Gold Medal award under Nance's leadership occurred in 1980 when Highland Park was selected for this honor. In the same year, Nance was a member of the Special Recreation Board (NSSRA) that received the Gold Medal for services to the handicapped.

Nance served nine years on the NRPA Board of Trustees from 1977 to 1987, and in that position interacted with another trustee, Jack Robinson, director of the Dallas Parks and Recreation Department. In 1982, Robinson persuaded him to joint the Dallas department as one of its assistant directors. At Dallas, he was responsible for golf, horticulture, museums, cultural center, planning and research, marketing, and public relations. Thus he was a part of the leadership team when Dallas won the National Gold Medal in 1985; the third of Nance's career. From 1986 to 1987, he was director of Health and Human Services in Dallas where he created the Office of Senior Services.

For a year from 1987 to 1988, Nance was director of parks and recreation for the city of Hartford, Connecticut, where he became acquainted with the Olmsted Legacy. He developed a recreation master plan for the city which highlighted to the community the Olmsted legacy of 2300 acres of parks, before returning to Illinois to become executive director of the Illinois Conservation, Park and Recreation Foundation. At the foundation he conducted workshops guiding communities on how to establish local park and recreation foundations. During his two years there, the foundation raised $200,000 to fund conservation projects.

In 1990, he became director of the Oak Lawn Park District in Illinois with responsibility for its $14.5 million budget and remained there until his retirement in 1996. His legacy at Oak Lawn included construction of a golf course on a landfill site; construction of a new ice arena and restoration of a natural wetlands area which became a model for such developments in urban areas. This latter project took an unsightly ditch and transformed it into an attractive, functional outdoor education area. He also initiated the Eagle Eye Neighborhood Watch Program through which residents living near parks looked out for vandalism and other crimes. This was so effective in reducing maintenance costs that it was embraced by the Illinois Association of Park Districts and widely adopted by other communities.

Although Nance retired in 1996 and moved to South Carolina, he was immediately recruited by the local county administrator to assist Georgetown County by becoming its director of parks and recreation. He re-retired from that position in 2002. When he took over the department it had 30 parks; when he retired it had 47 parks. The Georgetown Times reported: "His legacy may very well be the fact that he brought recreational facilities to thousands of citizens who had none."

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