Settlers Park
More details emerged in November about Grapevine’s new Settlers Park. A site plan for the park has been established. In early 2020, the parks department expects to send the project out for bid for construction, officials said.
In March, the city received a $500,000 grant from the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department to update Settlers Park, formerly known as Silver Lake Park, located across from the intersection of SH 26 and Bass Pro Drive. The grant has been executed, paving the way for the park's development.
With the grant, the city will develop walking and nature trails, drainage improvements, boardwalks, a pavilion, picnic facilities, camping grounds and a fishing pier, according to department documents.
GPRD Marketing Manager Amanda Rodriguez said the goal of Settlers park is to help preserve natural, open space.
“What we're trying to focus on is enabling science-based stewardship and preserving the natural and cultural resources of what's there,” she said. “We're really trying to encourage outdoor participation.”
Construction could take about a year, Rodriguez said. Since the park will have a variety of outdoor offerings, it is likely it could attract people from all around the area.
“This provides ... more opportunities for hiking and fishing and kayaking, other than Lake Grapevine,” she said.
Club All-Access
This past fall, the parks department launched a new program called Club All-Access to benefit people with special needs. Rodriguez said the program was a direct response to feedback the department received from the city’s residents.
“This is our initiative to expand programming for those with adaptive needs in our community and integrate them into a community where they feel like they're part of something, while also enhancing their growth and motor skills, enhancing health and wellness and creating fun experiences for them,” Rodriguez said.
Grapevine-Colleyville ISD schools have several programs that work with students with special needs, she said, so the city wanted to develop a program that would catch these same people after they graduated.
“This is a program geared towards adults 18 years or older because we really saw a void in our programming at that age—especially since ... GCISD has so many programs of their own, we wanted to help those who graduate and then have no place to go or maybe then need a place to call home and be active and be integrated into,” Rodriguez said.
Club All-Access members do field trips and learn social and developmental skills. Classes include yoga, healthy food choices, vocational readiness training and how to fold laundry or tie a tie.
An application is required to participate and can be found here.
Results so far have been positive, Rodriguez said.“We've already gotten so much great feedback from the caregivers for those participants,” she said.
