Round Rock to host open house for 2023 bond project to improve downtown park spaces

Round Rock residents will soon have an opportunity to give feedback and input on plans to create more park spaces in the city's downtown.

City staff will host an open house for the Lawn at Brushy Creek, a potential park project that would be located along Brushy Creek just north of downtown, from 6-8 p.m. April 18 at the Allen R. Baca Center for Senior and Community Activities dining room.

This comes as city officials March 9 approved a contract for the design of the Lawn at Brushy Creek, a parks project located just north of Round Rock's downtown district.

Officials previously stated the project would extend an existing trail down Sheppard Street/Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way toward central downtown as an expansion to the Brushy Creek hike and bike trail, and solve stormwater issues by providing options for water detention and water quality management.

The $277,834 contract authorized design firm Dream Workshop to begin creating the schematic master plan for the park. City documents state the design will help plan out the use of green spaces owned by the city for the park as well as land required for Heritage Trail, which would run through the park. The firm will also seek opportunities to collaborate and coordinate with other downtown projects, such as the paseo slated to replace the Palm House.

While funds for the contract would come from the city's general self-financed construction fund, the construction of the project is tied to the city's $230 million 2023 bond Proposition A, which includes improvements for several parks and other city facilities characterized as quality-of-life enhancements. Round Rock citizens will vote on the bond in the May 6 election.