Spring Lake Park's history will be in the spotlight after coming improvements to the park's walking trail, city officials said.
Texas Parks and Wildlife recently awarded the city a $130,762 grant to develop a new "Walk Through History" trail featuring signage that notes historical information.
"This grant will provide the opportunity to add plaques along the walking path that will highlight the rich history of Spring Lake Park, as well as local flora," City Planner Holden Fleming said.
Visitors will be able to read about conquistador Hernando de Soto drinking from the location's springs in 1541, Anthony L. Ghio's initial development of the park grounds in 1887 and the zoo that opened there in 1960, among other interesting historical facts, Parks and Recreation Director Robby Robertson said.
The grant money will be used to renovate the 2,000-foot section of the walking trail that wraps around Spring Lake, Robertson said. Improvements will include repairing tree root damage, expanding the trail by 700 feet and adding the history component, Fleming said.
The project will complete renovation of the Spring Lake Park walking trail, first built using mostly gravel in the 1960s, Robertson said. Most of the trail was improved with a project completed in 2009, when it was named the Phillip McDougal Trail. McDougal was killed October 2007 when he was hit while riding his bicycle. A Texas Parks and Wildlife grant, as well as funding from the city and Partnership for the Pathways, paid for that project, Robertson said.
Parks and Recreation hopes to begin trail improvements this summer, but the start time depends on when the state makes grant money available, Robertson said. The department will construct the project itself as much as possible but will contract for materials like asphalt.
Robertson is looking forward to the changes.
"Anytime we get an opportunity to update or refresh our parks, we consider it a win for the community," he said. "This grant will make a big impact at one of our most popular parks."
The Spring Lake Park grant was part of $3.54 million in federal grants that the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission approved for 22 recreational trail projects across the state.
Spring Lake Park was named a Lone Star Legacy Park in 2013, joining parks in Austin, San Antonio, Fort Worth, New Braunfels, Grapevine, San Angelo, Abilene, Plano, Seguin, Garland, Houston and Corpus Christi. It is one of 14 such parks in Texas.
"A Lone Star Legacy Park is a park that holds special prominence in the local community and the state of Texas. These parks have endured the test of time and have become iconic to those who have visited, played and rested on their grounds. A designation as a Lone Star Legacy is one of the highest honors that can be bestowed on a park," according to the Texas Recreation and Parks Society.
For more information, contact Robertson at 903-798-3999 or at [email protected].