City updates parks and recreation plan

City updates parks and recreation plan News Staff Tue, 05/14/2024 - 5:55 pm   The city of Breckenridge plans to add a number of amenities to turn Lake Daniels into a destination location for community members and tourists. Photo/Mike Williams By Mike Williams news@breckenridgeamerican.com As Breckenridge City Commissioners continue updating the city’s Comprehensive Development Plan, a parks and recreation road map has been developed for the next 16 years. After receiving a $55,000 planning grant the city has worked to update its development plan. City Manager Cynthia Northrop said during a Breckenridge City Commission Meeting held Tuesday, May 7, that the development plan has not been updated since the 1960s. “We have been working with our grant administrator and public management on this,” Northrop said. “We have presented a lot of information to (the Planning and Zoning Commission), including this park plan.” The 2024-2040 park plan inventories each of the parks in the city, including Breckenridge ISD facilities and privately owned parks and recreation facilities. The city-owned and maintained parks and recreational facilities are Breckenridge City Park, Booker T. Washington Park, Birdhouse Park, Foundation Park, Community Garden and Lake Daniel Park. BISD owns and maintains Buckaroo Stadium, Joe K. Boyce Sports Complex and the elementary school playgrounds. The plan highlights six priorities for the city, some of which have already started to see work completed. Priority 1 The city plans to continue improving Breckenridge City Park after replacing playground equipment earlier this year. Future plans include installing a new splash pad at the city pool, continuing to replace outdated equipment and landscaping upgrades. This priority has an estimated timetable of 2024-2027 and an estimated cost of $800,000. The city manager said passing a parks and recreation plan helps when applying for a grant from Texas Parks and Wildlife to assist with the cost of the splash pad. Northrop said the city is looking at using space near the kiddie pool area. Priority 2 Another major priority for the city is implementing improvements at Lake Daniel Park. Part of a five year plan, these improvements include installing two boat docks, construction of restrooms, adding RV spots with water and electric hook-ups and the installation of a playground. “(We are) looking at making that more of a destination for folks,” Northrop said. “It is a nice little park. …As we advertise it right now, it’s primitive but I think that’s a resource we can really build on.” The improvements at Lake Daniel Park are estimated at $1.5 million and were estimated to be completed from 2025-2030. Priority 3 The third priority in the parks plan is improvements to Booker T. Washington Park. These improvements include replacing outdated equipment, adding a walking trail and the addition and replacement of benches and picnic tables. The park did receive new lighting this year and Northrop said the city is looking at adding additional lighting to the baseball and softball fields. Priority 4 The city is looking to implement an estimated $150,000 in improvements to the Community Garden. Between 2026-2030, the city plans to replace garden beds, install a new gravel drive and walking paths and install at least one greenhouse with the possibility for more to create additional gardening activities. Priority 5 This priority seeks to establish neighborhood parks in all new subdivisions through enforcement of the city’s subdivision regulations. These parks would come at an estimated cost of $100,000 per park. This is an ongoing priority throughout the entire term of the plan. Priority 6 The city wants to designate natural areas for use as nature parks and green belts. This comes with an estimated cost of $100,000 per site and a timetable that spans the duration of the plan. “I think we’ve done a pretty good job of that,” Northrop said. “The Birdhouse Park, we’ve taken some of those pieces of property that are in the floodplain …and (are) re-purposing them as green space in our city.” Following the presentation by Northrop, the city commission passed a resolution that officially adopted the parks and recreation plan. The city will continuing to work on the Comprehensive Development Plan. News Log in to post comments