City names new Parks and Recreation Department director

The City of Las Cruces has named Steven Bingham as the new Parks and Recreation Department director.

Bingham, who was chosen after a national search, will begin his new job Monday, Aug. 7, the city said in a news release.

Bingham has broad and diverse experience in parks, recreation, sports, health and tourism, the city said. He has a master’s degree from Utah State University in health, physical education and recreation.

Bingham served for nearly 14 years as deputy director and assistant director of the parks and recreation departments in St. George, Utah, and El Paso, the news release said. For 10 years, he was tournament director for the National Junior College Athletic Association Softball College World Series.

Bingham also taught sports and recreation management classes at two universities and he coached college baseball and was a college soccer official.

He has received the National Recreation Parks Association gold medal award, and in 2015, St. George, Utah was recognized as having the best parks and recreation department in the United States for communities with populations of 75,001-150,000 residents.

Bingham also led efforts to recruit Ironman Triathlons to St. George when that city was awarded North America’s eighth full-distant triathlon. He founded the Snow Canyon Half Marathon in 2007, which was named one of the Top 25 Half Marathons in North America in 2013 by Runner’s World Magazine.

Bingham also started the Outdoor Recreation Program in St. George, which included mountain biking, bouldering, kayaking and canoeing, the city said.

For seven years, Bingham worked with Special Olympics as the state Summer Games director/area director in Utah and Idaho. He was elected chair of the Greater St. George Sports and Events Commission. Bingham served as chair of the Healthy Dixie Commission, a public-private coalition for the improvement of community health in Washington County, Utah. He oversaw the renovation of the landscaping of a large historic building that consisted of as many as 38,000 plants and started the Fall Brawl Pickleball Tournament, one of the five largest pickleball tournaments in the U.S.

Bingham was raised on a dairy farm where his passion for sports was developed while helping his father, who was a volunteer athletic director, youth recreation volunteer and high school coach, the city said. Bingham is married to Jenn Long and has four daughters and a son.