Photo courtesy Michael Cain
Leander city planners are seeking residents' feedback for a new community park at Lakewood, southwest of the intersection of Ronald Reagan Boulevard and East Crystal Falls Parkway. Leander Parks and Recreation Department staffers and representatives from the Baker-Aicklen engineering firm held a second Lakewood planning meeting Feb. 12. About a dozen residents from nearby neighborhoods attended to discuss Lakewood Park concepts. The 125-acre park site includes a lake, woods, oak trees and wetlands. Tim Bargainer, Baker-Aicklen director of landscape architecture and planning, outlined how guests could use the lake and possible locations for paths, parking and restrooms. Results of a park-features survey show 44 percent of respondents said they want an amphitheater at the future park, 38 percent favored a community garden and 35 percent said they prefer a water playscape or splashpad, Bargainer said. Most residents said they support canoes and paddleboats on the lake but not motorized boats. Steve Bosak, Leander Parks and Recreation Department director, said the park's flood plain prevents building more sports fields or buildings. "You'll probably see a variety of surfaces in there, definitely a hard surface, and some nature trails, too," Bosak said. The planners' first meeting was Jan. 8. A final meeting is scheduled for March 12. "We want to create a park out there that people like and will come out to time and time again," he said. Organizers said they hope to finish park plans by May. After Leander City Council approval, the city would in August apply for state grants to develop the park. If that funding falls through, Leander could resort to financing the park through a city bond election, organizers said. Building trails and other park additions is at least two years away, Bosak said. "We can build parking to the level we need it, but putting lighted facilities down there, a lot of restrooms, a rec center or swimming pool or something like that — the site doesn't allow us to do that because of floods," Bosak said. "It's really going to be more of a natural resource-based park."