Planned renovations begin at Russell Creek Park in Plano

The first part of construction is underway at Russell Creek Park in Plano as part of an ongoing plan to improve facilities.

Renovations on two fields on the park's south end have begun, and they are expected to be closed until early 2022. The natural turf fields are being converted to synthetic, all-weather turf. Renovations also include new scoreboards, shaded player benches, ball netting and field fencing, according to a city release. The cost for the turf fields is about $4 million, according to the Plano Parks and Recreation Department.

The next part of the plan involves renovating a variety of park facilities and the playground area. The Plano City Council will vote at its June 14 meeting on a $1.4 million bid for those renovations.

Many of the facilities have not been upgraded since the park opened in 1995, and some do not adhere to current accessibility standards, according to K’Ann Parham, parks and recreation business manager. She said the park’s facilities need an upgrade.

“Those playgrounds as well as the areas that support it are, No. 1, just tired and worn out,” Parham said. “We like to make sure that when we do bring something up to date that we bring everything up to code as well.”

Construction will include better walkway and parking lot accessibility, playground and play pit renovations, extra seating, new light and landscaping figures and repairs to the parks drainage system.

Heavy rains have caused certain trail areas to erode and sink into the ground. Construction will “raise those back up,” Parham said. “Our real goal is to make this a more functional area of the park. Just newer, fresher and again adhering to all those codes.”

The playground will be closed for about a year during construction, according to city officials. Parking will be available on the southern side of the park off Russell Creek Drive. The renovation plan can be viewed here.