Council moves towards redeveloping Andrew Brown Park

Written by Phil Cerroni

By Amanda Casanova

The City took a step toward redeveloping the Andrew Brown park system on Jan. 22 at the Coppell City Council meeting. The Council unanimously voted to approve a conceptual master plan for the 200-acre park system.

The park system is made up of three zones: West and Central, which boast diamond and field sports and trails; and Andrew Brown East, which includes the Kid Country play area, the Coppell Aquatic and Recreation Center and various sport fields.

According to a memo sent to the Council from City staff, the park system is one of the most visited in the city. Because of its popularity, the parks have suffered some wear over the years.

Among updates included in the conceptual plan are a “Central Heart” that would offer a lawn for community-wide events and reshaping the existing lakes. Other developments include family gathering areas and improvements to the field sport areas.

“The purpose is to put some fresh ideas together and to continue to best serve your community and make the park as versatile and dynamic as we can,” Philip Neely, an architect with Dunaway Associates, said. “What we’ve tried to do is hear from the community and hear from leaders.”

While the plan is still preliminary and the Council would still have to choose and hire a contractor for the work, the project budget is estimated to cost about $26 million, according to documents from the master plan.

“This is a fine piece of work,” Councilman Marvin Franklin said at the meeting. “This has really got the ‘wow’ factor and you seemed to have solved a lot of problems. You’ve enhanced the aesthetics and made a statement and made it consistent with the branding effort we’ve talked about for many months.”

The Coppell Parks and Recreation Department also recommended approval of the conceptual plan.