The new Town East Park Playground will be located in the northwest section of the city at 2851 Gus Thomasson Rd. The new playground site will be adjacent to the Town East Park Pavilion with picnic tables and a water fountain. This project involves the demolition of an existing 25+ year-old playground, and the construction of a completely new and fully accessible playground in the general vicinity of the old playground (see photos below). The Park Planning division staff has designed the new playground, and it is funded through the Mesquite Quality of Life Corporation 4B Sales Tax Fund. The project cost is approximately $210,000.

The new playground will have two separate play areas with age-appropriate signage. One area is designed for 2 to 5 year-old children and the other is designed for 5 to 12 year-old children. The two play areas combined provide a total of 4,885 square feet, all on one level. The new play equipment will include 4 swings, 5 slides, raised decks with extended shade structures, and a variety of climbing and balancing equipment.

This playground project will introduce the first life-like climbing boulder to the City of Mesquite's Parks and Recreation System. This new 'Sandstone Flake' boulder will be constructed of fiberglass reinforced concrete and will be located on the 5 - 12 year old play area. The new playground at Town East Park will also provide more shade over the play equipment than is currently available at most other city playgrounds.

This new playground will employ poured-in-place rubber safety surfacing. This is a state-of-the-art unitary surfacing material that does not shift, or wash away like loose fill wood fiber. Poured-in-place surfacing provides a safer playground environment for children than wood fiber. The new playground equipment is designed to be used safely by children of appropriate ages under adult supervision.

New benches and trash receptacles will also be installed along with the new playground equipment. The project scope also includes upgrading dedicated handicapped parking spaces and adding a new picnic table and bar-b-que grill on a concrete slab. Project construction began in mid August of 2007, and it is scheduled for completion in late fall of 2007.

Demolition of the old Town East Park Playground is nearly complete.

Construction of the new Town East Park Playground is under way.

The Rorie-Galloway Day Camp is located at 3100 Lawson Road. The facility is used for summer camp programs, youth services activities, and can be rented by private parties for special occasions. The Day Camp has been the focus of a recent improvement project, through a partnership with Resource One Credit Union. The project goal was to update the Camp's fencing to increase site security while maintaining the rustic nature of the Camp. The location of the new fence will allow for the future widening improvements of Lawson Rd. Construction activity included the installation of a new electric entrance gate with keypad controlled entry and area lighting. Also included were new ornamental metal fencing with decorative stone columns along the Lawson Road side of the Camp and updated barbed-wire fencing to help secure the Camp from trespassers. Other projects that have been part of the on-going renovation, through the partnership with Resource One Credit Union, new landscaping features at the entrance of the park, brush removal, a new fire pit and amphitheater structure, ropes course improvements and nature trail bridge renovations.

The previously existing Day Camp entry sign was saved and carefully incorporated into the design of the new entry to maintain the Camp's heritage (See photo below). The project will be completed in late summer with the installation of new asphalt that will run from Lawson Road to approximately 25 feet past the new entry gate. For more information about Day Camp rentals please call the Parks and Recreation Department office at 972-216-6414.

The new entry gate to the Day Camp includes new lighting fixtures,
new stone columns, and the previously existing rustic wooden signage.

The Parks and Recreation Department, in conjunction with the consulting firm Halff Associates, Inc., is in the process of developing a comprehensive hike and bike trails master plan for the City of Mesquite. The preparation of this master plan is the first step in the development of a network of trails throughout the city that will facilitate bicycle and pedestrian traffic. The trails network will capitalize on existing infrastructure and natural corridors to connect places of interest such as parks, schools, work places, dining, retail, and entertainment destinations. The master plan will also address connectivity to the trails systems in adjacent communities and to the North Central Texas Council of Governments Regional Veloweb System.

Components of the master planning process include:

• Analysis and documentation of the existing trail and roadway systems, places of interest, and other pertinent conditions
• Solicitation of citizen's input through a detailed telephone survey and public town hall meetings
• Analysis of existing opportunities and constraints
• A survey and analysis of the trail systems and standards of cities adjacent to Mesquite
• Conducting field reviews of potential new trail corridors
• Preparation of cost estimates
• Development of an implementation plan for the new trails network.

The consulting firm will utilize the data gathered from public input and the other components of the planning process in establishing trail corridor criteria. The completed master plan will guide the orderly and consistent development of a citywide trails network and will establish a range of design and maintenance standards. These include standards for on-road bike lanes, off-road hike and bike trails, on-grade traffic crossings, railroad crossings, low water crossings, and design considerations for vehicle bridges to accommodate trails. Design standards will also be developed for trailheads, trail signage, and trailside facilities.

The development of this master plan is a complex long-term project. The project began in June of 2006 and Parks and Recreation Management is planning to present a final master plan to the Mesquite City Council in late autumn of 2007.

The City of Mesquite, through its Parks and Recreation Department, has designed a waterwise landscape for the Community Services Building located at 1616 N. Galloway Ave. The installation of a landscape for the new building was initially delayed because of the severe drought of 2005 and 2006. The City began making plans for the waterwise, demonstration landscape before the drought was lifted, and will now move forward with the installation.

A waterwise garden consists of a combination of native and well-adapted trees, shrubs, and blooming perennials that are drought tolerant once they have become well established. The new landscape at the Community Services Building will demonstrate of how colorful and interesting a waterwise landscape can be. It is possible to have blooms and visual interest in a garden year-round without having to use excessive amounts of water for irrigation.

The waterwise plants for this project include Knock-out Rose, Autumn Sage, Lantana, Daylilies, Butterfly Bush, Loropetalum, and Crape Myrtle to name a few. The waterwise garden is being installed in conjunction with a new landscape Art Feature that will be located at the south end of the Community Services Building property. The landscape architectural firm David C. Baldwin Inc. designed the new landscape Art Feature. This is the same firm that designed the beautiful courtyard at Mesquite’s Art Center.

The Art Feature will consist of five raised planted beds made from colored, textured, concrete retaining walls. The wall design will form the petals of a large flower. The raised beds will be planted with waterwise plantings. Both projects should be complete in late winter of 2008.

This project is currently under way. The consulting firm Wilson and Company of Fort Worth, Texas has been hired to design a replacement entry road for the Travis Williams Athletic Complex, parking renovations at the Evans Recreation Center, Evans Senior Center, Evans Practice Baseball Fields, and overflow parking for Beasley School Park. Construction proposals will be sought in late autumn or early winter of 2007. Look for more information about this project on this webpage in the future.

This project involves the design and construction of two new park restroom facilities that will be located on the south and north sides of the lake at City Lake Park. The new restrooms will be sited within the existing improvements of the park and located to be as convenient as possible for all park users. The architectural firm Brinkley Sargent Architects is currently working on the design of the restroom facilities. No date has been established yet for the completion of this project. Please look for more information about this project on this webpage in the future.

Disc Golf is coming to Mesquite! The Parks and Recreation Department staff is currently working on the design of three separate disc golf courses. These will be the first public disc golf courses in the City of Mesquite. One is an 18-hole course that will be located within Paschall Park (1001 New Market Rd.) This will be a long, relatively flat course designed to appeal to both beginners and more experienced disc golf enthusiasts. The Paschall Park Disc Golf course will take the disc golfer from wide-open areas along South Mesquite Creek to challenging holes in heavily wooded areas of the park.

A second 9-hole course is planned for DeBusk Park (1625 Gross Rd.). This course has some hills and runs along both sides of South Mesquite Creek as it winds its way through the park. A third 9-hole course is planned for Porter School Park (617 Via Avenida). This is a relatively short course with lots of hills and great views. The Porter School Park Disc Golf course will be an excellent course for beginners wanting to learn the basic skills of disc golf.

Disc Golf is a fun, low impact activity that provides good exercise and can be played by anyone with any type of flying disc. The Disc Golf courses will be free and open to the public. All three of the disc courses route the golfers in a circular fashion, bringing them back to the starting area on the last hole. Signage will be located at each Tee-box to guide the golfers through the courses. Competitive bids for the construction of this project will be sought in the near future. Please look for more information about Mesquite’s new Disc Golf courses on this webpage in the future.