Benbrook Parks Board approves Castle Park and Robot Park concept plan after community open house

Benbrook — The Benbrook Parks Board voted unanimously on Nov. 12 to approve a concept plan for Castle Park and Robot Park and will recommend the plan to the City Council for final approval.

Parks department staff member Bennett presented the proposal and summarized feedback from an open house held the previous Saturday and an online SurveyMonkey questionnaire. "This is the culmination of a lot of work that y'all been doing over the last couple years of planning this and working through it," Bennett said, and described roughly 65–80 people who voted at the open house and about 285 written survey comments collected.

The presentation included aggregated preferences for specific pieces of equipment. Bennett reported the parkour element was preferred over a crawling pyramid by about 242 to 56 votes; the standing spinner was preferred over a sitting spinner (194 to 103); the hexagonal jumping net beat the toddler carousel (177 to 140); and music play panels beat learning play panels (210 to 86). Bennett said some items were left off the SurveyMonkey form because of technical issues.

Bennett recommended the Parks Board approve the concept plan "with the items discussed during tonight's meeting" and to forward the recommendation to the City Council. When asked about schedule, Bennett said the plan is scheduled to go before City Council at their first December meeting; if council approves, the equipment vendor will be contracted, manufacturing will begin, Parks staff will perform demolition (estimated at about two weeks), and each park will be closed for approximately six to eight weeks, weather permitting. "We're hoping that the park will be available to start early spring or late spring, early summer," Bennett said.

Board members asked how construction would affect youth baseball and softball. Mr. Potter noted practices typically start in March with games in April; Bennett said the timing will overlap and "it will impact it some," but staff do not expect major disruption and anticipate contractors can use nearby ground as a laydown area. Bennett also said staff will use social media and the City website — and possibly QR codes at the site — to direct residents to alternate parks while construction is underway.

Bennett addressed design constraints. He said the Dutch Branch Park area is controlled by the Corps of Engineers and restricts expansion beyond the existing footprint; large trees in Castle Park constrained equipment size and placement to protect root zones. He also noted older play features are "grandfathered" and do not meet current safety standards, so replacement equipment must comply with modern fall-zone rules.

After the discussion Mr. Potter moved to approve the Castle Park and Robot Park concept plan as presented; Miss Fulcher seconded. The Board voted yes on the motion and the chair declared the motion passed unanimously. The board also approved the Oct. 8, 2025 meeting minutes earlier in the session.

Next steps include the Parks Board recommendation going to City Council in December for final approval and procurement actions by city staff and the selected equipment vendor.