Senior Recreation Center opens and more updates from the McKinney Parks and Recreation Department

1. Senior Recreation Center & Senior Pool renovations

Crews recently completed construction on this facility, and the official reopening was May 3. With completion, the building has been wholly refreshed and has a new, reorganized floor plan: What was once the fitness room is now the billiards room, and the former multipurpose space is now the fitness space. Parks and recreation staff have also added about 1,800 square feet of new space by repurposing patio areas to help accommodate the center’s growing membership.

“It will feel like a brand-new facility when you walk into it,” Director Michael Kowski said in a previous interview.

Timeline: spring 2020-May 2021

Cost: $5 million

2. Cottonwood Park renovations

Work that began last spring at Cottonwood Park in McKinney is in the finishing stages, Kowski said. The park should be completed by June.

The park includes a pavilion, an interactive fountain, a plaza, a garden and food truck parking as well as a multiuse sports court.

The $3.1 million Cottonwood Park redesign project was funded through parkland dedication fees as well as through the McKinney Community Development Corp., Kowski said.

Timeline: April 2020-June 2021

Cost: $3.1 million

3. Old Settler’s Recreation Center & Aquatics Center renovation and expansion

A) Work is wrapping up to renovate the southern half of the recreation center. This work included converting the outdoor basketball pavilion into a new interior space. This space will include new community rooms; a commercial-grade warming kitchen; an expanded fitness area with all-new equipment, new restrooms and showers; and a large game room. The offices at the B) Aquatics Center are also undergoing a refresh to the offices, restrooms, showers and other public areas.

Timeline: spring 2020-spring 2021

Cost: $5.2 million

4. Greens of McKinney development

The city has taken steps forward on this project by accepting the parkland dedication of the 4.7-acre tract along Stewart Road, with the homeowners association of the Meridian neighborhood continuing to provide maintenance to this property, according to a letter Kowski issued March 23 to McKinney residents.

Additionally, City Council recently authorized an architecture firm to begin master-planning efforts on several park facilities, including the former Greens of McKinney golf course property. A master plan will be prepared for the neighborhood park, Kowski said in the letter. The McKinney Parks and Recreation Department will take input from the public this summer as part of these master-planning efforts, with that process beginning this spring. Funding sources and timelines will be determined after the public input process is completed.

Timeline: TBD

Cost: TBD

For additional information about park projects in McKinney, email [email protected].