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Parks director reports record summer participation, maintenance updates and grant bid for skate park
Summary
Jacob Kirkpatrick, director of Parks and Recreation Special Events, told the meeting that summer programs set participation records, dozens of facility projects and events completed, and staff has applied to Texas Parks and Wildlife for a skate-park grant that could fund renovations at Grama Park.
Jacob Kirkpatrick, director of Parks and Recreation Special Events, summarized the department’s April–June work and said the summer brought record participation across youth and adult programs.
“We opened up our pickleball complex over at Love Street Park … state of the art facility over there at Love Street Park, with 10 pickleball courts that are fully shaded,” Kirkpatrick said, noting the courts were a major spring completion. He told the meeting the department completed 178 service requests across facilities, nearly finished an interior remodel at Fire Station 1 and refreshed City Hall stairways.
Kirkpatrick provided participation figures: “we have 600 kids registered in our swim lessons,” with more than 100 on the wait list; the swim team reached a record 140 participants; the city hosted 30 adult softball teams (another record) and staged 12 softball tournaments at Holland Lake. He also said 337 children enrolled in the full-day Wrangler camp at Cherry Park.
The department reported strong event attendance: a Luke Combs tribute concert drew about 2,500 people and a movies-in-the-park showing of Trolls attracted roughly 4,000 at the amphitheater, Kirkpatrick said. He also described booking pressure on pavilions, pool rentals and building reservations, with some facilities filling within days of opening.
Kirkpatrick said staff applied to Texas Parks and Wildlife for a grant to build a new skate park and update Grama Park; the grant decision is expected in January. During discussion he referenced a possible $750,000 figure in the conversation about grant size. On longer-term facilities, he reminded the group a multi-year master plan and a feasibility study completed several years ago identified a larger recreation center as a major investment.
Kirkpatrick said operational demands matter as much as construction: “you have to hire staff to get it and manage it, run it, and the pools are very expensive as you can imagine,” and that timing and funding must align before the city pursues projects beyond current capacity.
The meeting concluded with an announcement that the next meeting will be Oct. 24 at Cherry Park.
