Nov. 9, 2006, 8:57AM
Improvements include new playground equipment, lighting

By JUDITH HINDMAN
Chronicle Correspondent

Kids, parents and even dogs should be pleased with the transformation under way in the city’s parks.

Katy’s new budget, which began Oct. 1, includes $250,000 for new playground equipment and picnic areas, fall-absorbing play surfaces and the city’s first dog park.

Parks Director Jennifer Archer said work started about three months ago on some of the remodeling projects. Within the next two years, she plans to upgrade and improve all the city’s parks.

“We have some very exciting things coming up that I think will really change the way a lot of our parks work,” she said. “We’re starting a renovation process in all of our major parks, which are Thomas Park, VFW Park, Katy City Park, Katy City Police Park, what we call the jogging trail and Woodsland.”

The changes are long overdue, Archer said, because the parks haven’t changed since she was a child growing up in Katy.

“We’ve taken it bit by bit,” she said. “First, we addressed the major issues and now we’re into updating, bringing our playground equipment up to federal standards and doing some cosmetic stuff.”

Work has already started on Thomas Park and should be finished by Dec. 1, Archer said. The updating will reflect that the small park at Third Street and Avenue D is an historic site with the tri-county marker where Harris, Waller and Fort Bend counties meet.

The improvements include new pavement, picnic benches and fencing plus a playground. She said the existing gazebo already has been rebuilt.

VFW Park
The VFW park is next in line to get improvements. …more…