Frisco City Council members unanimously approved a master plan and a $4.84 million design services contract for Grand Park during an Oct. 1 meeting.
“Finally,” Mayor Jeff Cheney said.
The gist
The master plan and contract officially push Grand Park plans into the next phase of its development.
“This funding that you’re approving today is actually so we can get a construction set of documents so that we can start the build of the park,” Parks and Recreation Director Shannon Coates said.
The team hired for the designs is Design Workshop Inc., the same firm that delivered early renderings and a site analysis for the park.
Getting the construction documents, finishing the final designs and then identifying potential contractors should take around a year, which aligns with the city’s goal of a fall 2025 groundbreaking.
In case you missed it
The last major Grand Park update was presented to council members in July and included new renderings and a list of amenities planned for The Community Hub, a 300-acre portion of the park. In total, Grand Park land stretches from Main Street in Frisco to Lewisville Lake.
The Community Hub is then split into five separate districts: Civic Park, Adventure Play, Botanic Garden and Nature Area, Sports Park and Nature Center. Civic Park is the northernmost district and will be part of the first phase of construction and design focused on in the contract with Design Workshop Inc., according to meeting documents.
Amenities planned for Civic Park include:
- 7,500-person amphitheater lawn
- Splash pad
- Climbing structure
- Food truck space
- Picnic pavilion
- 5-acre pond
- Orchard
- Festival street
- Sculpture garden
- Boat house
- Chess and checkers tables
Coates said residents should not get too attached to all of the features as they appear in the renderings as the final product could be refined slightly as part of the design process.
“Fall in love with the idea but don’t fall in love with every single ink spot on the paper because that could shift a little bit,” Coates said.
There will be regular check-ins and updates on the designs going forward, Coates said.
Zooming out
Grand Park has received a significant amount of emotional investment from city leaders over the years, Cheney said. Now, the current council will have “the unquestioned honor” of being able to break ground on the project, he said.
“We’re essentially at the halfway part, which is getting it to the starting line,” he said.
Council member Laura Rummel had previously said she had been hearing about Grand Park plans since buying her first house in Frisco almost 20 years ago.
“It’s no longer an urban legend,” Rummel said Oct. 1. “It’s real.”
