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Wichita Falls council adopts 2025 Parks and Recreation Master Plan, directs staff to begin implementation
Summary
The Wichita Falls City Council on Jan. 21 adopted a 278-page Parks and Recreation Master Plan that lists 67 recommendations — 25 prioritized — to guide park maintenance, trail completion, accessibility and sports tourism over the next decade.
Wichita Falls — The Wichita Falls City Council on Jan. 21 unanimously adopted the city's 2025 Parks and Recreation Master Plan and directed staff to develop approaches to implement the plan's prioritized strategies.
The plan, prepared with consultant HAF and finalized after more than a year of community engagement, inventories about 1,000 acres of city-maintained parkland across more than 35 parks, identifies 67 recommendations and highlights 25 as high priority for near-term work, Kendall Howard, a HAF consultant, told the council.
"This master plan is an opportunity to really take a comprehensive look at the parks and recreation system needs both today and in the future as Wichita Falls continues to evolve," Kendall Howard said. The plan includes a conditions assessment, a statistically valid survey response set and recommendations grouped under five guiding principles: enhanced amenities and facilities, accessibility, management and maintenance, partnerships, and parks as destinations.
City staff and the consultant said high-priority items include completion of remaining segments of the Circle Trail and connection spurs to neighborhoods; creation of lifecycle replacement schedules and minimum standards for park amenities; improved sidewalk and trail access to bring more residents within a 10-minute walk of a park; and feasibility work for destination amenities such as an amphitheater.
Blake (staff member) said the plan also recommends establishing a parks foundation and strengthening partnerships (including with Shepherd Air Force Base and local institutions) to expand funding for projects and programming. "We want to make sure this doesn't end up on a shelf," Blake said, describing plans for annual updates and a five-year check-in.
Council members and members of the parks board praised extensive public input, noting two public open houses, outreach to sports leagues and more than 1,000 combined survey responses (including a statistically valid survey with more than 500 responses). The council approved the resolution by voice vote; the motion passed.
The council directed staff to report back with implementation approaches and to include progress updates similar to the city's strategic-plan cadence.
