On back nine of long career, Kempf’s tenure defined by dedication to parks

With the flip of a switch on a late summer night 15 years ago, Chuck Kempf still remembers how the newly installed lights at Phil Welch Stadium brought the field to life.

Much to the awe of his young son Chuckie, who would be playing ball on the same field the next year.

“He was like, ‘Wow,’ It was almost intimidating for him because he’d never really been on a field of that magnitude,” Kempf, a former Benton and Missouri Western baseball player himself, said. “That was a feel-good moment for me and something that I’ll probably never forget.”

At the time, Kempf was working closely with late Mustangs owner Dan Gerson on significant stadium renovations to help support the new team, still in its infancy.

The project was both a personal and professional milestone for the St. Joseph native and future parks director, who watched as Gerson transformed the Mustangs into perennial championship contenders with the revitalized stadium and helped turn St. Joseph into one of the top destinations for collegiate summer baseball in the country.

“I kind of grew up in that neighborhood and I had a lot of friends that grew up around there. I spent a lot of time there, and for me, that was probably one of the most memorable projects I was involved with,” said Kempf, St. Joseph’s director of Parks, Recreation and Civic Facilities.

As the final weeks approach in Kempf’s 25-year run in city government, most recently as parks director since 2015, Kempf is making the most of his time left before retirement and reflecting on a career defined by widespread growth across the entire park system.

From his days as a young kid traversing the Parkway to eventually leading the park system as director, Kempf embraced the challenges and responsibilities of the position and relished the opportunity to see things through, traits that didn’t make it any easier to decide when to call it a career.

“It’s kind of hard to walk away from things in the middle of projects. When you get something started, it’s human instinct to finish that,” Kempf said with a grin. “With what we’re doing now and the number of projects that are going on ... It’s always going to keep going.”

The coming months will not only see designs mapped out for a new Hyde Park activity pool and Northside Splash Park — two facilities set to be ready in the spring of 2026 — but also the opening of the city’s first true skateboard park at Maple Leaf Parkway, widespread renovations at Krug Park and a new pump track at the River Bluff Trails Park.

Some of the top projects completed under Kempf’s watch include the 400-acre River Bluff Trails Park, a popular mountain biking facility opened in 2022, in addition to opening the Liberty Oak Splash Park at Hyde Park and revamping the St. Joseph Civic Arena into a top regional sports venue.

The 2025 project schedule, packed with many additional projects, is emblematic of Kempf and the department’s determination to revitalize and expand amenities for residents in all quadrants of the city.

“I’m going to keep working hard on the projects that we have in play. There’s going to be a lot of completions done and a lot of new facility openings,” Kempf said. “We’re good at spreading that around and we want everybody to benefit. We want everybody to enjoy the parks in their neighborhood.”

Kempf is the first to credit the community for its commitment and role in improving St. Joseph, most notably with the passage of the 2021 Parks Tax, a measure that provided $50 to $60 million to revitalize and grow a system that contains close to 50 parks and 1,500 acres of land.

“The motivation, the passion, it comes from the community, a lot of the ideas come from the community,” Kempf said. “That is probably the biggest moment for the parks and recreation department since the creation of the parks department in the early 1900s. It’s really a credit to everybody.”

A graduate of Benton High School and Missouri Western State University, Kempf got his start in 2005 as special projects manager for the city manager’s office, where he had a hand in everything from street construction to large-scale projects like the development of the Remington Nature Center, St. Joseph Rec Center and renovations to the aforementioned Phil Welch Stadium.

It was during that time that partnerships flourished with the parks department and late director Bill McKinney, who ultimately convinced Kempf to make the move over to parks in 2010.

Kempf worked as a recreation manager under McKinney before being named director in 2015 after a competitive search and hiring process.

“I thought it was a really good transition for me, a really good opportunity. When that park job opened in 2015, that was very competitive. So I was fortunate enough to get through that process and be selected.”

Along with being parks director, Kempf worked as the city’s ADA coordinator for 18 years until 2023, helping renovate local parks and facilities to accommodate those with disabilities.

With a dedication to volunteerism as strong as his work ethic, Kempf can often be found lending a hand with athletic events for Missouri Western, Bishop LeBlond, the St. Joseph Sports Commission or the St. Joseph School District.

“My mom and dad were both really good volunteers for the community and I’m trying to carry that over. It’s kind of in my blood,” he said. “I got a really good base in high school in the 1970s for volunteerism.”

As Kempf sets his sights on retirement, he’s eager to help the community in new ways and relish the time with his growing family and countless friends made throughout his career.

True to his active lifestyle, he’ll continue to encourage anyone who hasn’t to get out and explore the numerous amenities the park system has to offer.