Frisco - February 2024

Government

BY ALEX REECE

Final designs of the years-in-the-making Grand Park project in Frisco could wrap up before the end of 2024, ocials said. Frisco City Council and city sta heard a breakdown of next steps needed for the city to see a fully realized Grand Park on Jan. 18 during a two-day winter work session. City ocials and consultants have a few more months of visioning left to complete before nal designs wrap up in the next seven to nine months, said Conners Ladner, a principal with Design Workshop Inc. hired for the project. Once designs are nished, early phases of park construction could potentially begin sometime in 2025 and nish in early 2029, according to a meeting presentation. “We’re making progress,” Parks and Recreation Director Shannon Coates said. City ocials hone in on plans for Grand Park

The overview

What they are saying

Altogether, Grand Park is a more than 1,000-acre piece of property stretching from Frisco’s former Exide Plant property to Lewisville Lake. The main piece is the community hub, a 320- acre portion beneath the Dallas North Tollway, that city ocials hope to develop in multiple ways, including: trails, skate parks, picnic areas, festival lawns, playgrounds and nature center. The rst major step toward bringing the park online was when Big Bluestem Trail opened in November 2022, Coates said. Since then, city ocials have partnered with design teams Ideo and Design Workshop Inc. to brainstorm what the park could be. Coates said one comment she hears frequently is how awful it is that Grand Park has not been built yet. However, because of the changing demograph- ics in Frisco, it could be seen as a positive, she said. “The best thing that could have ever happened is that Grand Park hasn’t been built yet,” Coates said.

“I feel like for once we’re actually making meaningful progress.” LAURA RUMMEL, FRISCO CITY COUNCIL MEMBER

“These [ideas] are going to be evident in every single square foot of Grand Park.” CLAIR HEMPEL, A PRINCIPAL WITH DESIGN WORKSHOP INC.

Next steps

Council members had approved a vision statement and guiding principles for designing the park earlier in the week during a Jan. 16 meeting. Approving the vision statement will set the groundwork to make Grand Park a reality, said Clair Hempel, a principal with Design Workshop Inc. Design Workshop Inc. was hired in October to conduct the site analysis and framework studies. Now that they have nished, council’s next steps include choosing a layout of the park’s community hub. These layouts can vary depending on what council envisions for the space.

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Frisco ocials heard an update on Grand Park during a Jan. 1819 winter work session.

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