Edgewood City Park Drawing Crowds As Work Continues

EDGEWOOD—As the spring weather settles into the area, the big facelift on Edgewood City Park is almost complete.

Since it opened in 1985, the park has been a popular draw for local residents seeking warm weather leisure activities. It has also been the headquarters for the local youth baseball organization.

Age and wear, though, started to take its toll on the park. Edgewood Mayor Charlie Prater said he believes the renovation work will create new excitement in the community and draw more people to the park.

"There is still a lot left to do," Prater said as he looked over the park Tuesday morning. "We want to try to get it ready for a big opening on April 18, which is also the opening of the youth baseball season."

If the weather is favorable during the next two weeks, the park should be "about 95 percent complete," Prater said.

However, the improvements that have already been completed have drawn more people to the park recently. A new playground stands prominently near the park entrance, and a sand volleyball court and basketball court have been added.

"I’ve noticed a lot of people out here on the weekends already," said water supervisor Ryan Hare as he assisted other city workers in breaking up some old sections of the running/walking trail around the park.

"It’s been slow and steady," said Matt Smith, the city’s director of public works. "The problem over the last two or three weeks has been that we can’t stay at it, because of other projects we’re working on or things that have come up.

"But it looks like we’ve made a lot of progress with it and I’ve heard nothing but good comments here so far," he added.

City workers have performed much of the renovation work themselves. That has saved money and opened the door for more improvements that were not included in the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife grant that gave birth to the project.

The Edgewood Economic Development Corporation’s success in obtaining that grant turned the plans into a reality, and Prater credited EDC board member Pattizo Humphries for "a lot of time and hustle" to get the grant.

"We were lucky in getting money from the EDC and Texas Parks and Wildlife…The Lions Club donated a lot of money on the new playground equipment," Prater said.

He added that the Edgewood Baseball Association and Modern Woodsmen have also contributed to the overall project.

"We want to bring more people into the park and the baseball association believes it will help attract more people for tournaments here, so they have put a lot back into the park," Prater said.

"We’ve also seen a lot of people coming to the park after school…We want it to be a park for everybody to use," he added.

Prater said the city also plans to resurface the tennis courts, add new landscaping and provide new, sturdier trashcans throughout the park.

"We also would like to put in some park benches along the running/walking trail…Any businesses or anybody maybe wanting to make a donation in memory of someone can contact the city office or ask to speak to me personally," he said.

The Edgewood City Office phone number is (903) 896-4448.