A year after opening its expanded community center, the Brushy Creek Municipal Utility District is celebrating the renovation of two parks, the grand opening of another and 40 years of existence.

While planning for the district’s 40th anniversary, district leaders developed the idea of “Brushy Creek Life”—a celebration of what the district has to offer to its residents.

“When we kicked off the 40th anniversary we tried to make the community aware of our history,” said Teresa Rose, community relations specialist for the district.

“A lot of residents don’t understand that they live in Brushy Creek because they may have a Round Rock address or an Austin address. First it was about people understanding that they live in the district, and then that developed into ‘so what does that mean?’, and that developed into Brushy Creek Life,” said Mike Petter, general manager for the district.

Petter said the Brushy Creek Life is composed of several elements including a high level of service to residents, diversified programming opportunities, community events and community building. The idea behind Brushy Creek Life is celebrating those factors.

On July 20 the Brushy Creek MUD will celebrate its first Brushy Creek Life Day, an event geared toward showcasing everything the district has to offer. The district has more than 50 annual events, many of them free of charge. Brushy Creek Life Day will be a monthly event aimed at showcasing those events, classes and parks.

“We offer so much; sometimes it takes a little reminder of what all is going on here,” Rose said.

On June 9 the district held a grand reopening for the renovated Pepper Rock Park. A week later a grand opening was held for the district’s new Sendero Springs Park, and the renovated Highland Horizon Park was reopened June 20.

Petter said Sendero Springs will be the district’s final park, as it has reached build-out, meaning that all available property has been developed. The district reached the point of build-out in December, nearly 40 years after its genesis. Now the district is home to roughly 19,500 residents across 2,270 acres.

“The last 12 years have been planning for the impact of build-out,” Petter said. “We have also been identifying what the district is, which kind of led to the Brushy Creek Life idea.”

Now, Petter said, the district’s focus is maintaining and upgrading existing parks and infrastructure.

A large step in that effort took place in July 2017 when the district completed the 26,000-square-foot expansion of its community center, bringing the building’s total size to 65,000 square feet of administrative and recreational space for the district. Petter and Rose said the expansion was one of the highest priorities in the district’s Parks Master Plan.

Moving forward Petter said district officials are working on plans to replace the playground at the Community Center, revegetate the area and integrate trails, pond features and education materials.

District officials are also in early discussions about building an amphitheater near the Community Center. The committee is still discussing plans for the project, which Petter said could take another year to solidify.

Rose said that in all of the district’s efforts, one of the primary goals is bringing the community together.

“That’s been our approach with everything—to make sure that everything is very diverse,” Petter said.