Grapevine's new parks and recreation chief
A resident of Grapevine since 2000, Kevin Mitchell has served the city of Grapevine for 15 years in various capacities ranging from horticulturist to assistant director of parks. Throughout his time with Grapevine, Mitchell has helped the city parks and recreation department receive an array of awards including Best Design for Oak Grove Ballpark. In May, he was promoted to fill the open Grapevine Parks and Recreation Director position and now has his sights set on a new vision that he said will engage the entire community.
"Grapevine really is a trendsetter," Mitchell said. "The things we're doing and programs [we have are] top notch."
How have you seen the city's parks change over time?
Really, they're just on a steady incline. The quality of the parks has risen, and we've been fortunate that the council has provided funding. The Oak Grove ball fields set the tone for the park system. The signage that we've put around the parks system took its nod from Oak Grove signage. The Dove pool house renovation we just did took its nod from that. The Community Activities Center will be a game-changer for parks and recreation. To have that kind of facility for our citizens will be wonderful.
Grapevine's economic strategy is focused on retail and tourism. How do the city's parks and recreation facilities add to that?
Oak Grove Ballpark Complex is really the catalyst that got us started thinking about [retail and tourism]. From now through the middle of July, we'll have over 200 teams in Grapevine for World Series events at the facility. You figure every team has 11 to 12 kids on it, a couple coaches, and you're looking at 10 to 15 hotel rooms for an average of four nights; that's a huge impact. We also routinely host many regional basketball tournaments. That's a huge economic driver to the hotels, and the school district is a great partner as well.
