FUTURE NEEDS
Immediate park needs 2023: $8.19M 2024: $8.63M
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2025: $6.63M Total: $23.5M
About $23.5 million in potential costs were identi ed for 2023-25 including adding all-weather turf elds, conducting LED light conversion and upgrading 13 restrooms.
Park projects proposed
Village park improvements: $3.87M Pickleball and tennis courts, LED replacements, turf and restroom renovation Area park improvements: $1.43M Dog park, restrooms, community garden
2023: $8.19M total proposed
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Townwide improvements: $2.89M Bear Branch Sports Fields Alden Bridge Sports Park Gosling Sports Fields
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Major park needs identified
Needs identi ed: $3.8M Proposed for 2023: $367,500 for pickleball courts 3. Alden Bridge Park
Alden Bridge Sports Park
Needs identi ed: $15M (Phase 1) $21M (Phase 2) timeline (TBD) Phase 1 to begin in 2026-27 South Gosling Park
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Additional needs for existing parks $40M Additional needs for elds $12.64M Total recommendations from needs assessment $126.44M
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Needs identi ed: $34M Proposed for 2023: $542,357 for design phase
LAKE WOODLANDS
SOURCE: THE WOODLANDS TOWNSHIP COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
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The projects can be funded largely through township reserves that are accumulated through excess sales tax revenue, o cials said. Program revenues o set some of the costs of the amenities. The projects tentatively slated to begin in 2023 include improvements at the Alden Bridge Sports Park, Bear Branch elds and Gosling Sports Fields, according to township o cials. In addition, work will be underway this fall on pickleball courts as the rst phase of a total of $4.4 million in pre- viously approved improvements at Fal- conwing Park. Rieser said he believes the demand for the recreation programs is high. “We’re bulging at the seams already with the amount of activity on the elds, and a lot of these improvements are necessary just to keep up,” Rieser said in a phone interview. Immediate needs In addition to the proposed $8.19 million for upcoming parks improvements, $8.63 million in projects are proposed for 2024 and $6.63 million for 2025. For long-term needs, consul- tants identi ed a potential need for $3.8 million for Alden Bridge Park, $34 million for Alden Bridge Sports Park, $36 million for a new South Gosling Road park, $40 mil- lion for other existing park improve- ments and $12.64 million for eld
improvements. Township o cials said reserve funds can likely be used to o - set costs of many projects. Previous parks and recreation needs assessments were conducted in 2003 and 2011, Nunes said. “As a best practice, it is standard to do a needs assessment master plan on a routine basis,” Nunes said. Hugo Colon, a project manager with consultant agency Asakura Robinson, conducted the 2022 analysis and pre- sented the results at July and August township board meetings. Expenses in the rst year are aimed at beginning several of the township- wide park projects, such as adding pickleball courts and restrooms to Alden Bridge. More facilities are needed for pickle- ball, which has people lining up at ten- nis courts waiting for an opportunity to play, said Adda Cuthbert, founder of The Woodlands Pickleball Association. “What really kicked it o here was COVID[-19]. I think that with every- thing else closing down it was an activ- ity people could set up in the cul-de-sac and the driveway, and it has gone from there,” Cuthbert said. Pickleball combines elements of ten- nis, table tennis and badminton, accord- ing to the USA Pickleball Association. “Knowing that pickleball is a ‘hot topic’ in this community … we may be able to put pickleball in a little earlier,” Nunes said at the Aug. 24 board meeting.
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The scope of the projects extends through 2036 or beyond, but immediate needs will likely focus on the three large park facilities, Chief Operating O cer Chris Nunes said at the township’s August budget work- shop meetings. Other planned improvements, such as the addition of a $1.5 million lazy river and improvements to the Texas TreeVentures outdoor climbing facil- ity, could add to the township’s tour- ist appeal, o cials said. “The proposed lazy river, the addi- tion of more pickleball, the expansion of TreeVentures, those are all targeted at bringing more visitors into the area in the next ve years,” said Bruce Rieser, vice chair of The Woodlands board of directors. As of press time, the items bud- geted for scal year 2023 were sub- ject to approval at a Sept. 12 meeting of the township board of directors. However, an initial phase of about $23.45 million in parks improvements was discussed at August board meet- ings that could be implemented from 2023-25 with $8.19 million in needs identi ed in 2023.
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Ongoing park improvements In addition to projects identi ed by the needs assessment, other recreation improvements are planned as part of the parks department’s ongoing operations. 1. Bear Branch Park: Phase 2 of ongoing improvements: Proposed for 2023: $1.5M • Multipurpose rink awning • Tennis court shade structure • Parking lot expansion • Batting cages 2. Falconwing Park Four-phase $4.23M renovation to begin in fall Phase 1: • Pickleball courts Approved in 2021: $400,000
SOURCE: THE WOODLANDS TOWNSHIP COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
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