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PALS proceeds with playground, trail connections
By Chris Roark, croark@acnpapers.com
The town’s first community-built playground is expected to take a lot of work, but Flower Mound has begun taking steps to make it a bit easier.
Thursday, the Parks, Arts and Library Services (PALS) Board named Norma Krueger and Elizabeth Lumpkins, both PALS members, to a subcommittee in charge of recruiting volunteers and assisting the town staff with various components of the project.
The playground will be at The Heritage Park of Flower Mound, the new park that is being constructed north of Spinks Road between Gerault and Bakersfield parks.
Sims said the playground design company, Leathers Associates, will take that input, as well as input from the rest of the community, and begin the design. At the 30-, 60- and 90-percent completion phases, there will be updates on the project, and soon after the 30-percent completion mark, the public will be able to see the design.
Sims said volunteers will also be needed to construct the playground.
“It’s going to take several hundred volunteers each day,” Sims said. “We hope to have it built in five to six days, and each volunteer would typically work in four-hour shifts.”
Sims said Leathers Associates would oversee the project, and the town staff members would preset the main support posts. The volunteers would build the components.
Sims said volunteers will also be needed for fundraising, such as approaching restaurants to provide meals for the volunteers.
“This is going to be a big undertaking and will take a considerable amount of time,” Sims said. “But it will be fun.”
Sims said the target date for the construction is September.
The components of the playground are expected to be made out of recycled plastic with wood fibers. Sims said that will keep the structures in good shape with little maintenance required.
“I can see that with the kids helping design the playground and with the parents getting out and helping put it together, this is going to be awesome,” Krueger said.
For information on Leathers Associates’ previous playground projects, go to www.leathersassociates.com.
To volunteer for the project, contact the Parks and Recreation Department at 972-874-6342 or racheal.hudson@flower-mound.com.
Also Thursday, the board approved a list of trail connections for the Texas Yellow Star Trail. This is the last trail in the town that the board needed to approve connections for.
Right now, the trail is about four miles long, but once the five connections are made, it is expected to increase to 6.5 miles.
Segment one is at Peacock Park and runs through about eight acres. Included in this section is a boardwalk-style trail in the floodplain area.
Segment two is on private property and runs south and east to Long Prairie Road. Some of this connection will be built as part of The Preserve at Flower Mound residential subdivision.
Segment three runs through Possum Park and connects to the Wilkerson Park Trail through the greenbelt.
Segment four runs alongside Churchill Drive and connects to Yucca Drive.
And segment five runs from Kohl’s to Sagebrush Drive.
“The point of all of this is to get these onto the town’s capital improvement projects [CIP] list and get them built over the years,” said Tony Nielsen, park development senior project administrator.
Nielsen said the Pink Evening Primrose Trail connectors, the first of four trail connector projects the board addressed, is nearing the design phase.
These projects will be funded by money banked from park dedication fees the town receives from developers.
The board also recommended approval for the design of information kiosks on the town’s hike and bike trails. These 2-foot-by-4-foot signs will include information about the trail, the surrounding area and trail etiquette, and it will include a QR Code that will enable people to receive updated trail information by scanning their Smart Phone across it.
The signs will be laminated fiberglass to protect it from weather and most vandalism. Located at each trailhead, the signs are expected to cost between $1,400 and $1,500 apiece.
During a work session, the board discussed changes to the plan for the five-acre Braden-Bakersfield Park project.
Originally planned to feature a practice infield, pitching/batting tunnels, a nine-station batting cage area, a concession stand, restrooms, a pavilion, a play area and a soccer practice area, an amendment was made in 2010 during the parks master plan update process for the project to feature just a multisport open practice field.
Thursday, the board gave the town staff direction to proceed with the new plan that includes upgrading the cost from $200,000 for the first year’s project to $250,000.
The first year components will feature the turf, irrigation and fencing around the field. Future enhancements will include additional trees, sidewalks around the perimeter and electrical outlets for the annual Independence Fest.
The field is expected to be used for football, baseball, softball, lacrosse, soccer and cricket.
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