A community center planned beside Broussard Park could go out for bids in October after Tomball City Council approved a 30-year land lease with Harris County on Sept. 21.
The 5-0 vote allows Harris County Precinct 3 to build the Mathews Community Center on city-owned land at 1414 E. Hufsmith Road. Tomball will retain ownership of the land.
The agreement moves forward a partnership the county first presented to council in 2024 for the city’s Broussard Park and the county’s neighboring Samuel Mathews Park.
Together, the parks cover about 20 acres.
What’s planned
Precinct 3 Engineering Director Eric Heppen showed council updated drawings of the center.
Its main entrance would face a reconfigured parking lot rather than Hufsmith Road. Plans include a gathering room that would seat about 170 people, a stage, five classrooms and two flexible activity rooms. The site would also have roughly 160-175 parking spaces and a drop-off area for Precinct 3 buses, according to the presentation.
The county previously described the center as a 24,000-square-foot building. Its earlier park concept also showed amenities beyond the center, including a pavilion and pickleball courts; officials did not present those as part of the center construction schedule discussed Sept. 21.
Heppen said the county intends to keep the two existing community buildings available during much of construction, then remove them as it finishes the new parking area. The new building would be named after Mathews Park, while Broussard Park would keep its name.
“It gives a lot of people a place to go that don’t have any place else to go,” Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey said of the center, describing the classes, games and day trips offered at the county’s other facilities.
What’s next
Heppen said the plans are about 95% complete and the county has funding through its 2022 parks bond.
Precinct 3 officials have said they are not asking Tomball to pay for construction. The county expects to seek bids in October, start construction around April 2027 and open the center in summer 2028, according to the schedule Heppen presented.
The discussion also brought renewed questions about the long-awaited traffic signal at Hufsmith and Zion roads. Council member Dane Dunagin said the intersection needs attention before the center brings more visitors to the area and questioned why improvements discussed years ago had not happened.
Heppen said the county is acquiring right-of-way for the intersection, a process that will determine when road construction can begin. The road and community center projects have separate funding and schedules.
Council requested a separate memorandum of understanding on the intersection within 30 days. Officials said that work would not hold up the center agreement.
Before the vote, council member Lisa Covington summed up her reaction to the park project.
“I’m just so excited. This is just fantastic,” Covington said.
