After 8 years of waiting, this south Fort Worth park is getting a facelift

A fast-growing area of far south Fort Worth will see a 67-acre open area changed into Oak Grove Community Park after 8 years of lack of exercise.

Fort Worth's Parks & & Recreation Department got the land south of Everman Parkway and east of Oak Grove Road in November 2015 in anticipation of fast population growth in the location, which borders Everman and Forest Hill.

Get to know your community much better with our free newsletters. Register today so you do not miss a thing!

Claire Harvey, who moved to the neighborhood in 2016, identified the requirement for amenities like strolling tracks and play grounds practically right away. She began asking parks personnel why there was little progress on the home, which sits behind Everman ISD's Roy Johnson STEM Academy.

City personnel consisted of funding for park advancement in their bond propositions however kept getting rejected, Harvey stated. When District 8 council member Chris Nettles launched his project in 2021, Harvey brought the park to his attention.

" I was like, 'We truly need this. It will bring in so much attention and care and aid with the general morale of the neighborhood,' which was truly lacking," she stated. "It can be very isolating when we don't have access to our recreation center up in Highland Hills because there's no walking, no biking, no genuine automobile course to it.".

With more real estate and business development headed to the Fort Worth side of Everman Parkway, Nettles made the case to focus on Oak Grove Community Park in the 2022 bond election. The residential or commercial property looks more like a "uninhabited lot" than a park, stated Nettles, who formerly lived in the area.

" We had the ability to discover $3 million-- well, not so much discover. We took it," Nettles said to a laughing audience at a Sept. 14 public input conference. "That's simply a start. We're going to continue to discover more dollars to bring to this park and also help with our roadways.".

O'Flinn Design Group, which previously created master strategies for North Z Boaz Park and Chisholm Trail Community Park, is managing Oak Grove's design. The final master plan will be established over the next year, culminating in its approval by Fort Worth's parks board of advisers and City Council members in 2024. Throughout the public meeting, O'Flinn Design Group owner and principal Larry O'Flinn helped citizens identify their priorities for park facilities.

Larry O'Flinn of O'Flinn Design Group seeks resident feedback at a public meeting about Oak Grove Community Park on Sept. 14, 2023. (Haley Samsel

The city has enough bond financing to develop the community's first top priority, and maybe its second, but will require more funds to carry out the rest of the master plan, Patrick Vicknair, a parks task supervisor, stated.

Neighborhood members informed O'Flinn that nearly all choices were high priority, consisting of play areas, walking routes, picnic facilities, outside physical fitness, shade and lighting. Locals also suggested fencing around 2 neighboring school campuses to ensure trainees can't run off into the park without guidance.

" It's going to become a location," O'Flinn said. "It's going to become a location where people will go, 'Let's satisfy at the park,' or 'Let's have this occasion in the park,' and everybody will know which park they're discussing.".

Voice your opinion on Oak Grove Community Park

An online study ranking park priorities is offered here. Fort Worth's Parks & & Recreation Department will share more updates on its Oak Grove web page here.

Public art will likewise be a key element of the park style, O'Flinn stated. With $250,000 to spend, Arts Fort Worth will assemble 5 to 7 community members to manage and choose an artist project information.

Citizens still have an opportunity to voice their perspectives on Oak Grove, consisting of through an online survey. O'Flinn Design Group will go back to the community for a second public conference in about 2 months with preliminary styles and options for the master strategy. The conference date will be shared on the city's website for Oak Grove.

While city personnel state it will take a minimum of two to three years to finish preliminary park amenities, long time resident Sandra Jones currently can see household reunions around picnic tables and kids playing basketball as moms and dads search. Development of the park couldn't have come at a much better time, she said.

" They've put all this new housing and houses around here, but there isn't anywhere for us to go," Jones said. "They're going to do something out here; I believe they will. I believe the more individuals that come out, the more work we're visiting.".

Haley Samsel is the ecological press reporter for the Fort Worth Report. You can reach them at haley.samsel@fortworthreport.org.

At the Fort Worth Report, news choices are made separately of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial self-reliance policy here.

Assistance our guard dog journalism

As a nonprofit, we depend on our members to fund our coverage Fort Worth and Tarrant County federal government.

Make a donation.

Our ecological coverage depends on you

As a not-for-profit, we rely on your contributions to produce Tarrant County ecological stories like this.

Contribute.

Close window X

Republish this short article

This work is accredited under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Unless otherwise kept in mind, noncommercial entities may republish the majority of Fort Worth Report stories totally free under a Creative Commons license. For business licensing, please email hello@fortworthreport.org.

For noncommercial digital publications:.

Look for the "Republish This Story" button below each story. Do not copy stories directly from the front-end of our web-site.
When you share our content, you are needed to follow the standards and use the republication tool. The republication tool produces the suitable html code. .
You can't edit our stories, except to reflect relative modifications in time, location and editorial design. .
You can't sell or distribute our stories. .
Any web site our stories appear on should consist of a contact for your organization. .
If you use our stories in any other medium-- for example, newsletters or other e-mail campaigns-- you should make it clear that the stories are from the Fort Worth Report. In all e-mails, link straight to the story at fortworthreport.org and not to your website. .
If you share our stories on social networks, please tag us in your posts utilizing @FortWorthReport on Facebook and @FortWorthReport on Twitter. .
.
For noncommercial print publications:.

You need to credit Fort Worth Report. Please use "Author Name, Fort Worth Report" in the byline. If you're unable to include the byline, please include a line at the top of the story that reads: "This story was initially released by Fort Worth Report" and include our site, fortworthreport.org. .
You can't modify our stories, except to reflect relative changes in time, editorial and area design. .
Our stories might appear on pages with ads, but not advertisements particularly sold against our stories. .
You can't sell or distribute our stories. .
You can only release choose stories individually-- not as a collection. .
Any website our stories appear on need to include a contact for your organization. .
If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using @FortWorthReport on Facebook and @FortWorthReport on Twitter. .
.
The Fort Worth Report retains the copyright for all of its published material. If you have any other concerns, contact Managing Editor Thomas Martinez.After eight years of waiting, this south Fort Worth park is getting a facelift.
by Haley Samsel, Fort Worth Report.
Fort Worth Report ). < p > The city has enough bond financing to develop the neighborhood's first top priority, and maybe its second,>but will>need more funds to carry out the remainder of the master strategy, Patrick Vicknair, a parks project supervisor, stated. & nbsp;. < p > Community members informed O'Flinn that nearly all options were high top priority, consisting of play grounds, strolling trails, picnic centers, outdoor physical fitness, shade and lighting. Residents likewise recommended fencing around two close-by school campuses to ensure students can't run off into the park without supervision. & nbsp;. < p >" It's going to end up being a location," O'Flinn stated." It's going to end up being a place where people will go,' Let's satisfy at the park,'&or' Let's have this
. < h3 class =" wp-block-heading" id=" suggest-a-profile" > Voice your opinion on
An online study ranking park priorities is readily available < a href=">https://us.openforms.com/Form/c6cdd018-6358-49b7-acf4-da30eca5163b "> here. Fort Worth's Parks & amp; Recreation Department will share further updates on its Oak Grove web page << a href=" https://www.fortworthtexas.gov/departments/parks/parks-and-trails/oak-grove-community-park" > here. & nbsp;. < p > Public art will also be a key element of the park design, Residents still have an opportunity to voice their perspectives on Oak Grove, consisting of through an < a href =" https://us.openforms.com/Form/c6cdd018-6358-49b7-acf4-da30eca5163b" > online survey .&O'Flinn Design Group will>go back to the community for a second public meeting in about 2 months with preliminary designs and options for the master plan. The conference date will be shared on the city's < a href=">https://www.fortworthtexas.gov/departments/parks/parks-and-trails/oak-grove-community-park" > web page for Oak Grove. & nbsp;. < p > While city personnel say it will take a minimum of two to three years to complete initial park features, long time resident Sandra Jones currently can see family reunions around picnic tables and kids playing basketball as parents look on. Development of> the park couldn't have actually comea
"They've put all this new housing and apartment or condos around here, however there isn't anywhere for us to go," Jones said." They're going to do something out here; I think they will. I think the more individuals that come out, the more work we're going to see." & nbsp;. < p > < em > Haley Samsel is the ecological press reporter for the Fort Worth Report. You can reach them at & nbsp; < a href=" mailto:haley.samsel@fortworthreport.org" > haley.samsel@fortworthreport.org. < p > < em > At the Fort Worth Report, news choices are made separately of our board members and
< em > here < em >. This < a target=" _><>article first appeared on < a target=" _ blank" href=" https://fortworthreport.org">Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license. < img src=" https://i0.wp.com/fortworthreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/cropped-favicon.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1" design="" width:1 em; height:1 em; margin-left:10 px;" > < img id= "republication-tracker-tool-source" src= "https://fortworthreport.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=88658&ga3=UA-194640723-1" style="" width:1 px; height:1 px;>" >. Copy to Clipboard.<1.>