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Frisco council adopts $3 million plan to upgrade town parks over the next 5 years

A beaver crosses the pond in May at Meadow Creek Park in Frisco.
Hugh Carey / hcarey@summitdaily.com

FRISCO — Upgrades are coming to some of Frisco’s community parks.

The Frisco Town Council unanimously passed a resolution to adopt a new Neighborhood Parks Master Plan at its regular meeting Tuesday night, opening the door for an estimated $3 million worth of improvements in the next five years.

“These final neighborhood park concept plans are the result of a comprehensive community outreach process that stemmed from our community plan update last fall,” Community Planner Susan Lee said. “These were the parks that rose to the top in terms of community desire for improvements.”



The new plan was developed following a special public meeting held in November 2018 — along with online surveys, site visits and conceptual design development by Norris Design — prioritizing improvements to Walter Byron Park, Meadow Creek Park, Pioneer Park and Old Town Hall Park.

The plan outlines a number of upgrades and capital improvements for each of the parks based on community feedback.



Instead of completing all of the outlined improvements at one park at a time, Lee said the town likely would mix and match when it jumps into projects within the parks.

At Walter Byron Park, the plan details almost $1.5 million in improvements including upgrades to create a year-round restroom facility, incorporating new playground equipment, providing more access points to Tenmile Creek and creating additional gathering areas for things like picnics.

The upgrades at Meadow Creek Park, expected to cost about $676,000, largely revolve around efforts to improve safety and optimize use during winter. The plan for the park includes reconfiguring parking and landscaping to improve visibility in the park, installing overhead lighting over the pond, improving ice skating amenities, creating better connections to trails in the area and investing in new playground equipment.

The plan also outlines more than $320,000 worth of improvements at Pioneer Park, including better maintenance on tennis courts, the addition of a new nature play area for kids, and infrastructure investments to improve drainage and signage, among other projects.

Finally, the plan anticipates about $550,000 in upgrades to the Old Town Hall Park. The plan calls for the development of a more functional urban plaza space so that the park serves as a kind of extension of Main Street, along with improved amenities like better lighting and additional seating. The plan also includes the installation of a small stage that could be used as an outdoor classroom, and the development of interactive play features for kids.

While there aren’t any hard timelines on the park improvement projects, the town is expected to begin putting out requests for proposals to contractors next year. The town budgeted $750,000 for park improvements in 2020, beginning with Walter Byron and Meadow Creek parks.

The first phase of improvements scheduled for next year includes the restroom and playground upgrades at Walter Byron Park, followed by safety and landscaping improvements at Meadow Creek Park.


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