Southlake City Council viewed a presentation for the Town Hall Park Plaza feasibility study during the Dec. 3 meeting from TSK Architects and engineer firm Kimley-Horn about renovating the park.
The current park sits between Southlake Town Hall and Southlake Boulevard/FM 1709.
In a nutshell
Southlake Director of Community Services David Miller said city officials started discussing renovating or improving the area in March 2023. Options discussed included closing Main Street and/or closing Fountain Place. He said the concept was refined in June 2023 before work began on the plan.
He presented three conceptual designs to council, ranging from $13 million to $28 million in fiscal year 2025-26. If the project is moved to fiscal year 2028-29, the estimated costs would jump from $16 million to $34 million.
Miller said the difference in cost within each plan takes into account the estimated pricing of goods and services, depending on the fiscal year.
The money for the work would come from the capital improvements program.
Miller said all three plans would focus on improvements to the gazebo and water fountain, but there are other needs that must be addressed, like burying electrical lines and pond improvements.
Concept A
The first of the three plans was the most cost-effective based on numbers presented by Miller.
It includes the addition of a visitor amenity/restroom building, removable bollards on Main Street and Fountain Place, a shade structure around the fountain, artificial turf and a patio overlook at the pond.
Miller said the restrooms would be a single-stall men’s and women’s restroom with a “high-end” vending machine in the building, as well.
The design timeline is six months to 10 months and the construction would take six months to eight months, Miller said.
- Present-day cost: $11.5 million
- FY 2026 cost: $13.3 million
- FY 2029 cost: $16.1 million
This concept provides the same changes in Concept A, plus six additional changes. Those include a new fountain and gazebo, a new pond feature near the gazebo, artificial turf expansion around the water fountain and enclosing Fountain Place with plaza seating.
Miller said the gazebo in Concept B would be roughly $600,000. The fountain feature in this plan would be $300,000.
The design timeline is eight months to 10 months and the construction would take nine months to 10 months, Miller said.
- Present-day cost: $19.7 million
- FY 2026 cost: $22.8 million
- FY 2029 cost: $27.5 million
The plan features the biggest fountain and largest-sized gazebo with an enhanced design, according to the presentation.
This concept provided the same changes as the first two, but with the entire area near the water fountain covered in artificial turf, additional seating between the fountain and Southlake Town Hall, a fountain feature added to the pond and larger overlook patio areas.
Miller said the gazebo in Concept C would be roughly $800,000. The fountain feature in this design is $480,000.
The design timeline is nine months to 12 months and the construction would be 10 months to 12 months, Miller said.
- Present-day cost: $24.4 million
- FY 2026 cost: $28.3 million
- FY 2029 cost: $34.1 million
“It's all a little bit overwhelming, and it's hard when we see those big numbers, right?” council member Amy Torres-Lepp said. “I think, as a community, we all agree we need some amenities in Town Square; we need restrooms in there; water bottle filling station[s]. I think the bollards, [we] definitely need those.
"I know C blows me away with the money. I think A kind of doesn't do enough," Lepp said. "... I think the answer is somewhere in the middle."
What happened
Council did not provide a decision on the plans. Instead, the consensus was to look at it further.
“I’m going to need to digest this, to be candid,” Mayor Shawn McCaskill said. “I'm not sure I'm ready to say A, B or C right now. I think there are parts of each one that I might want to put together and see how that puzzle looks when you take different elements from different plans.”
Miller said the staff recommendation was Concept B.
“It's aesthetically pleasing, but it's also a cost-effective and removable option,” he said.
