Poplar Bluff Parks and Recreation board hires new director

A Poplar Bluff native with strong ties to the city’s Parks and Recreation Department has been chosen to succeed longtime Director Clark Allen, who retires in August.

Corcimiglia

Lanny Corcimiglia, 48, was selected Wednesday by the park’s board of directors in an 8-1 vote. He will begin Aug. 5 at a salary of $65,000.

Corcimiglia is a unit supervisor with the Division of Probation and Parole who has also served since 2018 as part-time program assistant for the parks department. His duties have included helping supervise baseball fields and gymnasiums during league seasons. Corcimiglia volunteered in that capacity prior to 2018.

“This field has always been a passion. I’m very excited about the position. I’ve been a part of this community forever and feel like it will be a very good fit,” said Corcimiglia, who graduated from Poplar Bluff High School in 1988. “We have a strong board and we have a strong workforce in the park department and hopefully we will continue to grow.”

Corcimiglia studied sports management and recreation at Southwest Baptist University, where he received a bachelor’s degree.

He has been a participant, coach and official of park department programs.

Corcimiglia has demonstrated a lifelong commitment to the department, said Eric Schalk, board president.

“The biggest thing was his supervisory and management skills,” Schalk said. “He has a lot of experience in supervising employees and managing difficult situations. Those types of things are one of the leading reasons we chose him.”

The city began advertising this position in late May and received 24 applications, ultimately interviewing seven candidates.

Allen retires Aug. 2, after more than 30 years with the park department and will assist in the transition. His salary is $87,380.

Allen said he looks forward to helping Corcimiglia get his feet on the ground.

“I’ll assist him and the board in whatever way I can,” said Allen.

Board vice president and longtime member Terry Mizell cast the sole ‘no’ vote under the motion to hire Corcimiglia.

It was nothing against Corcimiglia, Mizell explained, but he felt like another candidate had more experience.

“I’m going to back Lanny 100 percent, he’s who they trust,” said Mizell.

Corcimiglia has an educational background in the field and will work with the department to gather citizen input and update the comprehensive plan, according to Schalk.

“We were looking for someone who both had education in the field, but also had life experience,” said board member Mitch Davis. “For me, I liked that Lanny had roots in the community and has been heavily involved.”

Corcimiglia is a current member of the Poplar Bluff Elks Lodge, Three Rivers Citizens Advisory Board and Fellowship General Baptist Church. He has coached baseball, soccer and basketball. He has refereed junior high and high school football for the past 23 years and junior high and senior high volleyball for the past seven years.

Davis said he also liked ideas Corcimiglia shared, including community engagement efforts to get college and high school youth more involved through new partnerships.

The board used a criteria developed by the state parks and recreation board to evaluate candidates, Davis added.

“We’re very proud we had an objective process that treated people fairly,” he said. “Our board took this responsibility very seriously.”

Allen has done an outstanding job and Corcimiglia has big shoes to fill, said Mizell. A retirement reception will be held for Allen from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. July 28 at the Black River Coliseum.

Allen guided the city from a small department to 12 parks and miles and miles of walking trails, Schalk said.

“He’s really done a great job of just working diligently for the community and the park department and to make Poplar Bluff a better place to live,” said Schalk.

Poplar Bluff Parks and Recreation maintains 12 parks, a sports complex, multiple soccer and athletic fields, a skateboard plaza, 18-hole golf course, dog park, tennis courts, and an outdoor Olympic size pool with a diving well.

The park system encompasses approximately 385 acres. Greenway trails have expanded to over 10 miles which includes Shelby Trail connecting the northside and southside of Poplar Bluff. In addition, a 21-mile single-track hiking/biking trail was developed and is maintained through a partnership with Mark Twain National Forest.

Corcimiglia hopes to help the city build on these successes, promising transparency and to work to get more people involved in the park department.

Corcimiglia lives in Poplar Bluff with Bree Savat and their five children, Jacob Corcimiglia, 19, Hannah Corcimiglia, 15, and Reese Corcimiglia, 10, Zoe Savat, 16, and Lane Savat, 13.