City Council weighs in on Phase 1 of Grand Park

The Frisco City Council and its Grand Park subcommittee gave input on the first phase of what is perhaps the city's most-discussed municipal project at a joint meeting Tuesday.

Members of the council and subcommittee discussed what they wanted to see when the first phase of the proposed 275-acre park is complete and took an unofficial tally to see where everyone stood on the issue.

Chad St. John, a landscape architect at Jacobs Engineering, said his firm designed multiple options so the city would have freedom to create the park it wants in the first phase.

"We went through this whole program to understand the full picture and scope of the park," he said. "We're giving you these options not to ignore budget, but to make sure you have the best park available to you."

Of the options shown, all council and subcommittee members favored a $30-to-35 million initial phase that would give the park more features when it first opens. The least-expensive proposal started at about $20-to-23 million, although that option lacked several major features.

St. John said the more expensive options keep the "wow factor" that the park was initially proposed to have, such as a pier, festival green and more features at the proposed Kid's Place aspect of the park.

Council members all stressed their desire to be fiscally conservative but noted that if the park fails to live up to expectations that residents wouldn't be happy.

The city has planned Grand Park to be a regional destination with several unique features, but its plan all along has been to build the park in phases. Because of the community interest surrounding the long-proposed park, however, council and subcommittee members said they want to have as many features in the park as possible during the first phase.

"This really will be the legacy of what this town is about," Council Member Scott Johnson said. "When we look back 30 years from now, there will be very few things you'll be remembered by. This is it. You don't get many of these chances."

Johnson's comments were supported by the other members of the council and subcommittee, and many said the project needs to be "done right the first time."

Despite the overwhelming support for the project, council members Jeff Cheney and Will Sowell were disappointed the park wouldn't feature jogging and biking trails in its first phase. The duo noted that many regional parks -- such as Houston's Memorial Park -- feature extensive trails.

Those trails are still planned to be in the park at some point, they just aren't set to be constructed until a future phase.

The park itself wasn't the only topic of discussion, however, as the proposed private development at Legacy Drive, across from the where the park's lake will be, was also a point of conversation. Because the park is located between Legacy and the Dallas North Tollway, that development represents a prime piece of real estate.

City Manager George Purefoy said the development will likely play a big role in the park's success.

"To me, we haven't talked about the private side of the development [enough] -- one of the things we've been thinking about is the interest on the private side," he said. "I think what we could do is come up with a good presentation and show what various elements would cost. It could be that you have some developers ready to go with projects on the private side, and one scenario would be the money they pay for the private property would go toward the elements."

Once construction on the first phase begins, it's estimated to take about 18 to 24 months to complete. Much of that time will be spent creating the park's lake, which must be approved by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. The city submitted paperwork for permits in December.

As a result of the meeting, the City Council will likely place a vote on the park in an upcoming agenda, although no date has been set. At that meeting, residents would be able to weigh in with their own input on the topic.

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