Irving City Council approved the final version at its Oct. 24 meeting. The plan is a refresh for the city, as the last master plan was adopted in 2000.
“Some of our [recreation] centers and swimming pools are older,” said Joe Moses, Irving Parks and Recreation Department director. “It’s time to put some money into them to do some renovation and do some expansion so that we can service the larger number of residents that we anticipate.”
The $204 million master plan includes $18 million for trails and bikeways, $52.3 million for park developments and improvements, and $130 million for recreation and aquatic facilities.
The individual line items will roll out in phases, Moses said, as they will need to be funded through multiple bond referendums. The estimated cost of the projects in the master plan may fluctuate depending on the value of land that needs to be acquired.
Included in the land-acquisition efforts is the expansion of Irving’s trail system. Coppell and Irving celebrated the connection of their trail systems Oct. 29 via Irving’s Campion Trail.
“We just made a connection on the northern part of town; we tied into Coppell’s trail system,” Moses said. “On the southern side of town, we tied into Grand Prairie’s.”
The parks and recreation department is working to connect the northern and southern ends of Irving’s trail network through a central connection.
“By 2022, the trail will be completed,” Moses said. “So we will have our complete trail system running from the northern part of Irving all the way to the southern part.”
The city expects its population to rise by 61,000 residents by 2040. Sitting at 1,981 acres of park space, the master plan aims to add more acres of parks space per resident to meet the needs of current and future residents.
Just because the plan passed the council does not mean it is complete, Moses said.
“The master plan is a ... 10- to 20-year document,” Moses said. “It should be refreshed every, you know, five to 10 years.”
Other projects the parks department has recently completed work on include revamping the city’s golf course.
“We’ve had a golf course for a number of years in the city; we’ve had it closed down for about two years to undergo some significant renovations,” Irving City Manager Chris Hillman said at a Sept. 19 council meeting. “It was previously known as Twin Wells golf course, and it just reopened on [Sept. 2].”
