OTTUMWA — Gene Rathje loves parks and recreation so much he earned three academic degrees in those areas and chose them as his career.

Rathje is the city’s new park and recreation/The Beach Ottumwa manager and began his duties Monday at his office at the city’s water park.

Although he’s busy cleaning and organizing things, Rathje has taken time to look at the city’s park system. He’s impressed.

“Ottumwa’s acreage is great. It has 533 acres of parks,” he said Thursday. “The National Park and Recreation Association says the average is one acre per 100 residents. Ottumwa has 2.7 acres per 100 residents.”

Parks are a quality of life issue, according to Rathje. Parks, recreation and trails can lead to economic development because a company searching for a new site will check for those opportunities.

Rathje said he’s very interested in extending the trails system within the city.

He’s also studying the city’s long-term park plan and noting improvements that can be done now. The need for more playground equipment has caught his eye and crews are busy with mowing and trimming.

“We’ll make a concentrated effort to follow the long-range plan,” he said. “The city has lots of green space and as we have the money we’ll develop the system.”

All this optimism doesn’t mean Rathje thinks the park system is perfect. He can “see there is room for improvement.” For one thing, he wants to plant more evergreens in the parks.

“Crabapple trees have pretty blossoms but the trees are deciduous,” Rathje said. “Evergreens are green all year and they make a windbreak.”

He wants to plant red pine, white pine and spruce trees.

Rathje’s main focus now is The Beach Ottumwa, which will open May 24, weather permitting. Staff is repairing, cleaning and repainting the 16-year-old building.

“It’ll be beautiful when it opens,” he said.

The Beach is one of the biggest water parks in the area, he added. Some park systems don’t even have a pool, but The Beach has a rectangular one, a wave pool and a play area.

“And, I want to improve the customer experience at The Beach,” he said.