July Parks Month begins with free July 4 Pool Party

By Glynis Crawford Smith
The Highlander

July is a national month of recognition for the role parks play in recreation and conservation across the country, but those lofty sentiments have real meaning on the ground in Marble Falls.
This year is the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Marble Falls Parks and Recreation Department (PARD).
Johnson Park on Backbone Creek, established in 1887 and declared a Lone Star Legacy Park last year, was the cornerstone for the role parks have played here. Lakeside Park and Lakeside Pavilion on Buena Vista Drive greatly expanded the choices for recreation.
However, when Mayor John Packer proclaimed the month Park and Recreation Month at the June 20 meeting of the Marble Falls City Council, the council was treated to a review of the work of the department over the past decade.
Working from data assembled for the newly adopted Marble Falls Park, Recreation, and Open Space Master Plan, Marble Falls PARD Director Robert Moss provided an illustrated account from the year 2007 when the “rain bomb” that soaked the city leveled much of the city and the department began its work.
The development of Westside Park grew out of that work and the park now features not only a community center, but Ruff Dog Park and disc golf course.
“Through a Huber lease agreement we hope to make that a full 18-hole course,” said Moss.
Now, more than 3,000 feet of hike and bike trail connect Johnson and Westside Park, including passage over Madolyn's Crossing, an historic gridiron bridge salvaged from north Burnet County. Falls Creek Park between Johnson and Lakeside Park has been landscaped and the Falls Creek Skate Park was funded 100 percent by $110,000 in donations. In all more than $402,000 in grants sought by the department and the city parks committee have been added to $275,000 from the Marble Falls Economic Development Corporation. Wayfinding signs and Lakeside Pavilion improvements have found support from Hotel Occupancy Tax funds and the city has done its part budgeting $300,000 over a three-year period for capital improvements.
A $54,000 grant from the Lower Colorado River Authority began what has been called the “Purple Pipe Project” to irrigate Andrea's Pass, Johnson Park and Ball Field and Falls Creek and Lakeside Park.
Most of the dozens of events held in the parks are not city events but a big one—the Spring Break event—has garnered sizable corporate support. In the last three years alone, Moss said participants in the department's Spring Break event had grown from 600 to 2,075 for special programs that now number a dozen. They are backed by 30 corporate sponsors, including H-E-B, that has funded it with grant monies.
In conjunction with the 10-year anniversary of the department and the Marble Falls Community Fireworks July 4 Celebration, the PARD hosted a free community pool party on July 4 at the Lakeside Swimming Pool. Local businesses chipped in to offer concessions, door prizes, and giveaways in a free day of family fun for the community.
The city now contracts with YMCA of the Highland Lakes for pool management and has added concession income from facilities, but the hard fact at the bottom of Moss' report was that all the funding has gone to improvements and PARD will be looking to the council to bolster a staff that will be turning to needed maintenance.
Park acreage has grown from 88 acres in 2007 to 149 acres in 2017. Maintenance staff that numbered seven in 2007 and had been as much as eight members, dropped to four people in hard economic years of 2012-2013 and has managed with a staff of six over the last four years.
He related the PARD vision statement that ends with an emphasis on that staffing: “By the year 2027, Marble Falls will be known for a park, recreation, and open space system that is second to none. This includes building and maintaining parks and open spaces that are family-friendly, walkable, connected, and which maximize public access to Lake Marble Falls and other natural resources.
“These areas will be comprised of recreational facilities, other quality of life amenities, and programming to provide residents and visitors of all ages the opportunity to be healthy, physically fit, and socially connected.”
”Marble Falls,” he said, “envisions achieving this first by being forward thinking with redevelopment of its existing facilities, followed by strategic expansion and partnerships that respond to the needs of a growing community. This requires a focus not only on design, construction, and other initial capital costs, but also staffing, operations, and long-term maintenance.”