PARKS AND RECREATION
The Children’s Park Playscape will be reopening with upgrades and repairs on Monday, Feb. 24. The park is maintained through San Marcos Parks and Recreation Department, which has been making the upgrades since Feb. 10. There were various repairs to play features as well as pour-in-place surfacing. In the meantime, the city encouraged citizens to explore the many other parks it offers through their Parks Amenity Finder tool on their website at sanmarcostx.gov/findyourpark.
“The current repairs that are taking place at the Children’s Park Playscape include removing and replacing areas of worn and damaged pour-in-place surfacing as well as installing several pieces of play equipment that had been removed due to damage,” said Christie Murillo, Marketing and Outreach Coordinator for the Parks and Recreation Department.
While surface repairs are taking place, the parks department is going to install new play equipment that was previously on back order. The city made sure to cycle out construction areas, only closing down parts of the park that were actively being worked on in order to keep parts of the park accessible to the public.
The parks department has ordered more play equipment to fix or replace damaged pieces and will keep the public updated on possible closures in the future. Early this summer there will also be updates to other San Marcos parks. There will be improvements made to Victory Gardens Park and Swift Memorial Park. There are plans to replace the playground at City Park, which is projected to start at the end of this summer. One can find more information about park projects and their estimated start and completion dates on the parks website at sanmarcostx.gov/parkprojects San Marcos offers many parks and amenities for citizens and visitors.
“The Parks Amenities Finder is a wonderful project parks and recreation staff worked on with our City’s GIS [Geographic Information System] team last year,” Murillo said.
This project kicked off simultaneously with National Parks and Recreation Month, which happens every July.
“The idea originated from community feedback regarding citizens’ desire to easily be able to locate which park has a specific play feature they are wanting to utilize … [such as] expression swings, river access, trails, etc.,” Murillo said. “Parks staff worked with the GIS Department for several months leading up to July 2024, fine tuning park inventory as well as the look and design of the tool. The final product is something we feel is easy to use and we hope has made the process of finding a park that best suits your needs a little more user friendly for our community.
One can find the park finding tool and more information on city parks, facilities, updates and closures on the Parks and Recreation website at sanmarcostx.gov/3878/ Parks-Recreation or follow their Facebook page at facebook.com/SMTXParksandRec.
