Have Amarillo’s Parks Been Saved?

Earlier in the year, one of the big hot topics was the parks here in Amarillo.

There was talk and fear of some of them being shutdown completely. but now it seems as if we've reached a resolution on that.

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You may recall signs being placed around Amarillo parks with a website asking for citizens to take a survey about parks in the area. Well the results of those surveys are in...and it seems the city will go with their "master plan" for the parks.

Now, I'm not saying our recommendations and thoughts weren't good enough. I don't believe that's it at all. I think some things changed along the way that allowed the city to keep a majority of their plan in place while also being able to save the parks.

Improvements and maintenance were a big thing o the docket, and initially they weren't sure the money was there for stuff like that. Thankfully, the city council stepped up their game and threw some funds parks way that they didn't initially have.

Now they are looking for other ways to come up with more funding, such as sponsorships of baseball/softball fields or a private-public partnership so we could see even more funds get thrown at parks & rec, which would be extremely welcome.

As far as results from the surveys from the public, the biggest things were maintaining the current infrastructure and that the public values the trails and athletic fields. So if anything, the surveys gave the city a roadmap as to what we care about the most.

Stay tuned, the master plan will be presented to the council on Tuesday and more is sure to come.