CLUTE — With new playground equipment, walking trails and a dock for canoes and kayaks, Clute officials hope no one will be able to resist city parks.
The upgrades are among many improvements included in Clute’s recently approved plan for the future of Clute parks, created by a City Council-appointed committee with the help of Public Management Inc. over the past six months.
Council at its meeting Thursday accepted the plan that will enable the city to seek grants for parks improvements.
The Comprehensive Recreation and Open Space plan was prepared with the help of a $60,000 Texas General Land Office grant, most of which was used earlier this year to make electronic maps of the city. Its goal is to draw more people to Clute for the purpose of ecotourism, said Ken Coignet, a planner with Public Management Inc.
“It’s a good plan,” Mayor Calvin Shiflet said.
The plan will be used when the city seeks grant opportunities, making it more likely for the city to receive a grant, he said.
If the city can better its parks without taxing residents, it’s a good thing, Shiflet said.
The Comprehensive Recreation and Open Space plan includes improvements for Clute Municipal Park, Wilson Park, Broaddus Park, Millstid Park, Hardy Park, Stratton Ridge Sportsplex, Cobb Field and Oyster Creek.
First on the list of priorities is improvements to Wilson Park at Barbara Drive and Moffett Road, Coignet said.
The plan includes a walking trail, lighting, restrooms, an additional pavilion, more park benches, a parking lot, resurfacing the basketball courts, a new water fountain and barbecue pits.
They hope to meet this goal by 2011.
Similar improvements are slated for Broaddus Park at East River Drive and Riley Road, and Hardy Park on Hardy Street, Coignet said.
At Millstid Park on Washington Avenue, the committee hopes to install a nature trail and fishing pier, he said.
All of these improvements are slated to be made by 2014.
By 2015, the city hopes to begin developing area along Oyster Creek for canoe and kayak ramps.
Additional softball and baseball fields are planned to be built at the Stratton Ridge Sportsplex.
In addition to improving the current parks, the planning committee recommended enforcing the ordinance that requires a park in all new subdivisions.
The city will submit the plan to Texas Parks and Wildlife and search out other grant opportunities, Clute Parks and Recreation Director Dana Pomerenke said.
“It will make the grant process much simpler,” Pomerenke said.