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City and WACO ISD outline Barrens Branch park-district vision centered on La Pila Plaza
Summary
City and district officials presented a vision for a 100-acre Barrens Branch district focused on downtown density, cultural storytelling, a La Pila Plaza centerpiece, and a creek restoration feature during the joint meeting.
City strategic staff described a multi-decade plan to reconfigure roughly 100 acres in downtown Waco as a park-focused district that celebrates the history of the Calle Dos neighborhood and creates mixed-use downtown life. Tom Bach, the city's director of strategic initiatives, framed the project as a long-term, culturally rooted redevelopment with parks, pedestrian corridors and mixed-use buildings.
"The project mission aligned between behind these 3 elements, creating density downtown, a gravitational center that is very much rooted in celebrating our stories as a community," Tom Bach said, describing an image of five character districts and the proposed La Pila Plaza as a new civic gathering space. Officials stressed the design intent to honor displaced communities’ histories while providing public recreational features.
