Inclement weather has slowed the timeline for Harris County Precinct 3’s new park and fishing lake at John Paul’s Landing. Located at the northeast corner of West, Katy Hockley Cut Off and Katy Hockley roads, the park’s debut is delayed from this month until Feb. 14.

“A lot of the individual pods, the playground area, the fishing areas and even some of the finishing work around the lake and everything … rain washed a lot of the dirt away,” said Mike McMahan, special activities coordinator for the Harris County Precinct 3 Parks Department. “It’s just hurt our very aggressive schedule that we were trying to meet.”

Until then, John Paul’s Landing will not be open to the public. However, the new West Road on the south side of the park is expected to be finished by month’s end.

A Valentine’s Day deadline will help ensure that phase 1 amenities at the park are ready, McMahan said. These include a fishing pier, trails, a parking lot, playgrounds, pavilions and approximately 150 acres of the nearly 400-acre lake.

Phase 2 will include an educational center measuring about 4,300 square feet with a 10-foot wraparound porch. The nearly $2.5 million project will feature a classroom, exhibit center and a great room for group meetings and presentations.

Electronic resources such as touch screens are also planned, according to Eric Heppen, a project manager for Precinct 3. He also said the center would have parking.

Phase 2 would open once phase 1 is complete, Community Impact Newspaper previously reported.

“Our intentions are to open a new portion of [the] park every 12 months,” McMahan said.