From community centers to the Preserve, Nick Molinari leads with purpose

When Scottsdale Parks and Recreation leader Nick Molinari moved to Scottsdale with his family in 1980, the city had just over 88,000 residents, covered 88.6 square miles and had no dedicated preserve.

Today, Molinari helps oversee some of Scottsdale’s most defining community assets, including 47 parks, three sports complexes and the McDowell Sonoran Preserve. But for him, the work has always been about more than facilities and acreage. It’s about creating places where people connect, build memories and experience community.

Molinari, now the city’s senior director of Parks and Recreation and the Preserve, began his Scottsdale career as a recreation leader in the late 1990s. Last year, the city manager expanded his role to include oversight of the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, helping align operations and stewardship efforts.

Over nearly three decades with the city, Molinari has led programs and facilities ranging from senior services to WestWorld and McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park. He said each role has strengthened his appreciation for public service and the impact community spaces can have on residents’ lives.

“I’ve had the most awesome jobs in the city,” Molinari said. “I used to think, ‘How am I getting paid for this work?’ It’s so much fun.”

Molinari’s connection to Scottsdale runs deep. His family moved to McCormick Ranch in 1980, and he graduated from Coronado High School and Arizona State University before building his career serving the same community where he grew up.

Where community, family and opportunity come together

Molinari’s first city job came at age 16 at Vista del Camino, where he worked with children in community programs. He later transitioned into a full-time Human Services role, spending his first 15 years with the city supporting community centers and the residents who relied on them.

“There, I learned how important community centers are,” Molinari said. “Regardless of your situation, anyone can need social services.”

That experience helped shape his leadership philosophy and reinforced the importance of investing in spaces that serve residents at every stage of life.

For Molinari, becoming manager of Granite Reef Senior Center was one of the most formative experiences of his career. He helped support the land acquisition and development of what would become one of the nation’s premier senior centers.

“To be involved in the land identification and acquisition process — and even a small part of managing this huge capital project that became such a significant resource for seniors — I learned a lot,” he said.

The experience also became deeply personal. When each of his children was born, Molinari stopped at the senior center to introduce them before heading home from the hospital.

“The people there felt like family,” he said.

Scottsdale develops its leaders

“I had such great opportunities that I ended up loving the work I was doing,” Molinari said. “We have a development focus with our employees, with management that created a system of reinvesting in their employees. I was a product of that.”

Molinari credits Scottsdale’s culture of professional development and internal growth for helping to shape his career. He said the city’s investment in employees has helped preserve institutional knowledge while preparing the next generation of leaders.

That foundation later helped guide major projects supported by the city’s 2019 bond program, including the redevelopment of Civic Center and improvements to northern Scottsdale sports complexes.

Parks and preserve: investing in community

“We have been the standard, without a doubt,” Molinari said. “We’ve made a conscious effort to reinvest in ways other cities don’t.”

He said Scottsdale residents consistently demonstrate strong support for maintaining parks, recreation facilities and preserve investments that contribute to the community’s quality of life.

Scottsdale’s parks system is nationally accredited, a distinction achieved by just over one percent of park agencies among the nation’s municipalities.

Despite the challenges presented during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, Molinari said completing major projects remained a priority.

“We needed to finish the rebuilt Civic Center by the 2023 Super Bowl,” he said. “Getting construction projects completed during and post-COVID was challenging. We had to adapt rapidly.”

For Molinari, successful projects depend heavily on collaboration and trust across departments.

“With the Civic Center, the relationships developed across the organization — police, fire, our transportation and infrastructure group — were all really critical in that run up to the Super Bowl,” he said.

Relationship building remains one of the leadership qualities he values most. He believes kindness, collaboration and mutual respect create stronger teams and better outcomes for residents.

“Kindness and collaboration fit together,” he said.

Protecting Scottsdale’s future while honoring its past

One of the city’s largest future priorities, Molinari said, is the continued reinvestment in the Indian Bend Wash Greenbelt.

“That is fundamental to our identity,” he said.

He views the greenbelt as one of Scottsdale’s defining community assets and an example of the city’s long-standing commitment to thoughtful planning and innovation.

Molinari also noted that stewardship of the McDowell Sonoran Preserve carries a unique responsibility because of the voter-approved protections and ordinances that guide its management.

He said he is proud Scottsdale residents chose to permanently protect large areas of Sonoran Desert habitat for future generations.

That same philosophy is reflected in projects like Ashler Hills Park, designed to support Scottsdale’s dark sky goals while blending into the natural desert environment.

For Molinari, parks, recreation spaces and the preserve all contribute to something larger than amenities alone. They help strengthen community wellbeing and preserve the character that makes Scottsdale unique.

He said some of the most rewarding work now involves reinvesting in areas where he spent the early years of his career, including neighborhood park improvements in southern Scottsdale.

“These projects are transformative,” he said.

Nearly three decades into his Scottsdale career, Molinari still describes the work the same way he did when he first started: fun. For him, serving the community where he grew up has never felt like just a job.