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Weatherford parks staff report progress on splash pad, skate park design and spring events
Summary
Parks staff told the board the Blood Street Park splash pad is roughly 98% complete, skate-park design (McGrath/McGrady) is nearing completion with potential September groundbreaking, and department leaders reviewed event attendance, facility work orders and a move to new offices.
Jacob, a Parks and Recreation staff member, briefed the Weatherford Parks and Recreation Board on maintenance, programs and capital projects during the April 23 meeting.
"The splash pad is about 98% done," Jacob said of the work at Blood Street Park, noting remaining fence work, bench installation and system testing before a planned opening over the World Day weekend. He said staff will install the large tipping bucket and perform testing to confirm functionality before opening.
On the McGrath (skate) Park project, Jacob presented renderings and a layout showing added parking, a relocated playground to the south side, a new restroom building and upgraded basketball courts. "We're looking for probably end of next month to probably wrap up design on this, and then we'll move into construction documents," he said, adding the project could break ground as early as September if design and documents remain on schedule.
Jacob also reported operational activity: two staff recently earned certified playground safety inspector credentials, bringing the department to three certified inspectors; staff completed tree trimming and began mowing after heavy rains; and Hall Lake received two trout stockings and a separate catfish stocking. "We had 10 largemouth bass that were put in there last week," he said when describing recent fish additions at Love Street Park.
Staff noted special events at Shandor/Shenandoah Gardens drew roughly 1,500 visitors with about 70 vendors. Jacob said the department logged approximately 190 facility work orders across city buildings in the quarter. A board member asked whether staff track if event attendees come from inside or outside the city; Jacob said the department does not currently capture that detail but will explore available people-count tools and methods.
Jacob closed with operational notes: maintenance challenges with some custom park equipment that is costly to repair, and an office-move update — design for new offices on Santa Fe expected to be done by June 9, with construction starting in August and anticipated occupancy by year-end.
The board asked staff to share additional information on event-attendance tracking and other budget implications as projects progress.
