CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) — With two months on the job already under his belt, Greene County has officially named Sean Sweeney as its new Director of Parks and Recreation. He has served as the department’s Interim Director since the departure of previous Director Justin Bollock in February.

“It’s been a good experience,” Sweeney told Cville Right Now of his time as Interim Director. “I had the time to show what I could do as acting director. But also, I had been here eight-and-a-half years, so I’m just very familiar with the community and the community’s very familiar with me.”

Sweeney said he came into the role during the department’s busiest time of year, with youth basketball and cheerleading season ending, the Father-Daughter Dance occurring and youth soccer starting.

“Those are some of our bigger activities, special events and youth sports programs that were all happening at the same time,” he said. “So, it was a challenging, but certainly a fun time to be the acting director.”

A native of nearby Earlysville in Albemarle, Sweeney worked for Fluvanna Parks and Recreation for a year before he joined Greene’s department in August of 2017. He’s lived in Greene for the past six years, just five minutes away from his office at the Greene County Community Park.

“It’s a beautiful place out here in Greene,” he said.

Sweeney said he’s enjoyed working in Parks and Recreation because of the fulfillment he feels from serving others. He enjoys working in Greene’s department because it does “a little bit of everything,” all of it in house.

“I don’t service out. I don’t contract out any of our stuff. I don’t work with like a nonprofit to deliver a special event or a special event company is paid or anything like that,” he said. “Everything’s in-house, so just a hands-on approach that we have really allows me to serve the community in a direct fashion.”

And that passion for serving the people of Greene has been noticed.

““Mr. Sweeney has demonstrated outstanding dedication and deep commitment to serving our community and has consistently shown an ability to enhance the quality of life for our residents,” County Administrator Cathy Schafrik said in a release announcing Sweeney’s promotion. “I am confident that his experience and vision will further strengthen our parks system and ensure it remains a vital asset for residents and visitors alike.”

Now the permanent director, Sweeney will be overseeing a transition for the Greene County Community Park. Due in large part to a grant the County received a few years ago from the Governor’s office, the park is undergoing a number of renovations, including a new gate system at the front, connection to the county water system which will be used instead of the park’s current well system, new insulation and plumbing in the concession stand, new paving and lining for the parking lot and the addition of an overflow lot, and a few new pavilions.

“Big changes coming down here to the park,” Sweeney said, “and [we’re] just trying to map out the logistics of those changes with our running programs that we will have set.”

Sweeney has also begun planning the park’s summer and fall programs and is making sure the upcoming construction does not interfere. It all keeps Sweeney busy, especially since Parks and Recreation is only a two-person department when staffed full-time. But even with the extra hours and weekends he’s worked, Sweeney said he doesn’t mind it one bit.

“We do big things here in Greene with little manpower,” he said. “So, [I’m] really proud of what we’ve built over these three, four, five years, and I’m really looking forward to the future here in Greene County and all the possibilities that we have.”