[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6154735,"mediaKeyId","5483708-85b1514eaff5eb5b1bdfd521482a25bf","parentId",5483708,"title","Elgin parks director highlights new playground features, rental options and a free \"Dinosaur George\" exhibit","audioSeconds",203,"startMs",584000,"endMs",787000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5483708-85b1514eaff5eb5b1bdfd521482a25bf&start=584&end=787","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5483708-85b1514eaff5eb5b1bdfd521482a25bf/thumbnail_584000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6154735/Elgin/Bastrop-County/Texas/Elgin-parks-director-highlights-new-playground-features-rental-options-and-a-free-Dinosaur-George-exhibit","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6154735-fe2c11cb6878c9b26e3d343b3285310f/orig.mp4?Expires=1771061519&Signature=YF0-rwQbu3QDpXuP567Z4c2vDh48Vgvdz6xTtFDNrbpLhM~MlrPVe2xaN6qdacLQr1YsdikgZ8plkJI~Mj-NSOsKoUBnYG7H5LIEcgLoiC4KTMutF8J~ZXKNx0jNM~lwufwnh4TsOEhq81BPFSsmPd4eLf-1JwSf08cW8dyKzCQSOaXqh6s7OPTYJW1xksh~FH7mEO0qfxIOkv96cfqA2QkJM2x2EVb1795~9qEvPblieJWYOdo46u4mFy2deH5w7CzpuF9vDxPmWiVo3BCiiBUctTFmm1ztgNVEHu3rBktyOn5FghX3oX9iwAhDdjkwp~ob3J07outJb44iP~hCAA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Elgin, TX","date","2025-07-26T23:15:56.717Z","article","Elizabeth Marzak, parks and recreation director for the City of Elgin, described recent park upgrades, rental options and a traveling dinosaur exhibit in a segment of the city's 78621 Live podcast. Marzak said Morris Memorial Park includes features intended for all ages, including a \"friendship swing\" designed so parents and children can swing together and a four-person seesaw.

Marzak said Elgin has five parks totaling about 120 acres and described Morris Memorial Park as a neighborhood park with a duck pond and catch-and-release fishing. She identified park features including ADA-accessible hammocks and a playground completed in 2024.

On events and exhibits, Marzak said the city received a summer grant that will bring the traveling “Dinosaur George” exhibit to the Elgin Recreation Center for a multi-hour community event in late July. \"I have known dinosaur George since I was 7 years old and now his traveling museum of 3,000 square feet of dinosaur is coming to the Elgin Recreation Center and that is huge,\" she said. The podcast states the exhibit will include large skulls, a scavenger hunt, talks with the paleontologist known as Dinosaur George, family hours, low-sensory hours and reserved hours for older adults; staff said the first day of the exhibit is free.

Marzak also outlined rental options at city facilities. She said the recreation center's studio room is the most frequently rented space and is available for events such as weddings, baby showers and birthday parties; the podcast quoted a rental rate of $50 per hour with tables and chair rentals included. City staff encouraged residents to visit the recreation-center front desk for facility tours, a parks map and a newsletter with program schedules.

The segment emphasized inclusive-design amenities and community programming aimed at increasing park use year-round. Listeners were directed to the parks-and-recreation website and the city's social media pages for schedules and booking information.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","78621 Live! MAYOR THERESA MCSHAN & STACEY OSBORNE with KRISTINA ALVAREZ & ELIZABETH MARZEC","oneSentenceSummary","Parks and Recreation Director Elizabeth Marzak described new park amenities including an all-ages 'friendship swing', facility rental options, and a traveling Dinosaur George exhibit that the city said will appear at the Elgin Recreation Center in late July with at least one free day.","taxTitle","Elgin, Bastrop County, Texas","taxId",54079,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6154740,"Elgin wins $60,000 GM on Main grant to fund pedestrian crosswalk and downtown programming",184,33000,217000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5483708-85b1514eaff5eb5b1bdfd521482a25bf&start=33&end=217","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5483708-85b1514eaff5eb5b1bdfd521482a25bf/thumbnail_33000.jpg","/articles/6154740/Elgin/Bastrop-County/Texas/Elgin-wins-60000-GM-on-Main-grant-to-fund-pedestrian-crosswalk-and-downtown-programming","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6154740-5034100709a08702452882295b0333d9/orig.mp4?Expires=1771061519&Signature=jYSVrxgHQCBZpy0BwtSuYtXfrvrYm40IgsFh3mM-VvfLGwiA0q1mKsnx4wXr42TGygtcmtPyvkf0Qjnn01guGYEomnj7irQy5xIuSHmM9up1ZY5p-7xuJmIcY951l0UIXLlNyaE4NxVFqfTSnf-Ne4xTIDpWjSQAbqepQ~8IGrz6mD78nphgVF7AZq2Tse0hmcapVqUisfu-x1cAUduPpzEZ-DXlON0Rp9egXgGM3mEBDmU1-8qVQavqmFu8goIo4klKYh~NHtRmXZv88vnZnzd94iIBGPs2ZoHOorLr49XDjcGnBfCjxmk~egriR3pHeR9giJ2vfCOffxq~VE2z6w__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Elgin has been awarded a $60,000 GM on Main grant to design a pedestrian crosswalk and related pedestrian-safety work connecting the city’s older park and a new park, city officials said on the City of Elgin’s 78620/78621 Live podcast. Christina Alvarez, Main Street manager, described the project as both a pedestrian-safety effort and an attempt “to kind of unify 2 formerly segregated parts of town.”

The grant-funded project matters because residents and business owners reported children running between the two parks across a busy area, creating safety concerns. \"We had been getting some reports from businesses, seeing children dart from the old park to the new park and concerns about pedestrian safety,\" Alvarez said, adding the city is calling the effort the “crosswalk community.”

Alvarez said the Main Street program is in the design phase and will host a community workshop at the Clever Tiger at the end of the month so residents can review and vote on design options. \"We do have a tight turnaround. It has to be complete by November 30,\" she said. City staff also noted interim reporting deadlines: a progress report is due July 31, another report in September and a final report by Nov. 30.

Alvarez placed the crosswalk project in the context of broader downtown revitalization. She said Main Street is “preservation based economic development,” noted downtown storefronts are about 96% occupied and that roughly 200 people live downtown. She highlighted new and incoming businesses, including a Things Celtic shop relocating from Austin/Dublin-area locations and a kettle-corn vendor she said will soon open.

The podcast also described a recently established Depot District, which the city adopted late last year to make select downtown activities easier to manage and to promote tourism. Alvarez said the Depot District allows open-container events downtown under rules the city enforces (the podcast advised the city uses plastic cups or cans for open-container use during events).

City staff asked residents who cannot attend the workshop to use an online community questionnaire and a Facebook poll linked from the city’s Visit Elgin page to provide design input. Alvarez said the design will consider lower-maintenance materials so the city will not incur ongoing high maintenance costs, and that the schools will be included in pedestrian-safety education tied to the project.

For more information and links to the questionnaire and poll, the podcast directed listeners to the Visit Elgin page and to the upcoming community workshop at the Clever Tiger, where design options will be posted for public comment and voting.","City officials said a $60,000 GM on Main grant will fund a designed pedestrian crosswalk to improve safety between Elgin’s old and new parks, with a community workshop planned and a required completion deadline of Nov. 30.","actionData","errors"]

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Elgin parks director highlights new playground features, rental options and a free "Dinosaur George" exhibit

Elgin wins $60,000 GM on Main grant to fund pedestrian crosswalk and downtown programming