Kickerillo-Mischer Preserve[/caption]A Harris County Precinct 4 project to turn the Kickerillo-Mischer Preserve into a public park is moving along ahead of schedule.
A partnership between the county and Prestonwood Forest Utility District has cut years off the original timeline with the 80-acre park now on track to be open to the public by next spring, county officials said.
“This is the best possible outcome of what can happen when residents, developers, local utility districts and county government work together,” Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle said in a press release. “We can preserve greenspace and benefit the public.”
The park— located at 20215 Chasewood Park Drive, Houston—is centered on the 40-acre Marshall Lake near Hwy. 249. It will become a key piece of the Cypress Creek Greenway trail system, which connects hundreds of acres of parks along Cypress Creek, Cagle said.
County officials approved a $3.4 million contract last December for road improvements and hike and bike trails through the preserve. Work began on Phase 1 of the project in March, which involved the construction of roads, parking lots, utility infrastructure and a restroom facility.
The Prestonwood Forest UD is also allowing the county to use its former fire station building, which is being converted into a staff building with a live-in caretaker. Phase 2 of the project involves connecting the preserve to the staff building and additional public parking on Cypresswood Drive on the south side of Cypress Creek.
"If we had to build our own staff building, we wouldn't have had the funds to pursue this project right now," said Mike Howlett, the precinct’s park special projects coordinator. "This probably saved about $2 million."
Phase 2 also includes the construction of a concrete bridge across Cypress Creek and paved trail connections to the trails in the preserve and to the parking lot. Howlett said the project will include 9,000 linear feet—roughly 1.7 miles—of paved trail that will circle Marshall Lake.
The preserve was donated to Precinct 4 in January 2009 by Kickerillo Companies and Mischer Investments. Plans for the property also include connecting it with the 100 Acre Wood Preserve on the opposite side of Hwy. 249.
