Chad Fincher has been named the new parks and recreation director for Kalispell.
The city made the announcement Wednesday. Fincher has served as the city’s parks superintendent since 2008 and emerged as the top candidate to replace Mike Baker among 96 applicants.
Prior to working in Kalispell, Fincher was the parks and community services superintendent in Whitefish from 1998-2007.
As director of Kalispell’s parks and recreation, Fincher will manage activities associated with the city’s parks, the Kidsports Complex, forestry program, recreation programs, aquatic facility, trails and building maintenance. He will oversee 13 full-time employees and numerous part-time employees through the year.
“We think Chad has a really good grasp on taking the department with the current resources available and recognizing some new innovations and management philosophies within the department that will be able to take us in the short and long term,” said City Manager Doug Russell, who made the final decision on the hire after several panels interviewed the finalists.
Baker retired recently after 25 years as chief of Kalispell’s parks and recreation department.