Round Rock and Ft. Worth, TX
Project Spotlight – Round Rock and Ft. Worth – Silver Slugger Park and Southwest Community Park
Location:
Old Settlers Park Silver Slugger Field
3300 E. Old Settlers Blvd.
Round Rock, TX 78664
Completion Date:
October 2015
Project Scope:
56,000 sq. ft of turf and playing surfaces renovated
Soil aeration
Fertilizer application
Soil topdressing and reseeding
Excavating and grading of baseball infields
Water conservation techniques
Contributing Supporters:
ValleyCrest Landscape Maintenance
John Deere Landscapes
Native Land Designs
Whittlesey Landscape Supplies
Round Rock Park and Recreation Department
Texas Nursery and Landscape Association
Texas Water Smart Foundation
Estimated Value:
$14,000
Community Impact:
The park’s baseball fields are used by thousands of youth league players. The fields were rehabilitated using Texas Water Smart water conservation techniques to ensure the green spaces are water efficient now and in the future.
Location:
Southwest Community Center Park Little League Field
4216 Stonedale Rd.
Ft. Worth, TX 76116
Completion Date:
October 2015
Project Scope:
10,000 sq. ft of turf and playing surfaces renovated
Soil aeration
Fertilizer application
Soil topdressing
Excavating and grading of baseball infields
Repair and installation of new irrigation systems
Water conservation techniques
Contributing Supporters:
ValleyCrest Landscape Maintenance
Diamond Pro Sports Fields & Horticulture
Toro/Irritrol Irrigation Products
Ft. Worth Parks and Community Services Department
Texas Nursery and Landscape Association
Texas Water Smart Foundation
Estimated Value:
$16,500
Community Impact:
Delivering What Kids Want – To Get Outside
When Southwest Community Center supervisor Adrienne Lacy looks for ways to keep the hundreds of children who participate in the center’s summer programs she doesn’t need to search Google for ideas. All she has to do is open the door and point to the center’s recently renovated green spaces and they take it from there.
“Camp kids want to be outside, they want to be active and are happier when they are,” says Lacy, who enters her eighth year at the park and whose kids participate in the center’s programs. “We have organized activities but many times they will make up games on their own and the green spaces allow them to do that.”
Lacy says the athletic and recreational green space at Southwest Community Center is often the only green space some of the children have access to and that is why it is so important to have safe, playable surfaces.
The center’s ball diamond, which serves as home to more than 25 boys’ baseball and girls’ softball leagues plus local adult teams, and surrounding green spaces where kids can play and adults relax is an important part of the community.
Following the Project EverGreen “Healthy Turf. Healthy Kids.” renovation project in the fall of 2015, Lacy and the center not only enjoyed the benefit of safer, more durable and easier to maintain playing and recreational surfaces but earned an additional benefit of a “come together’ green space for parents and visitors.
“The renovated green spaces behind the ball diamond became a place where parents would set their chairs and let siblings play while they watch practices and games,” says Lacy. “The green space became a gathering spot and built a spirit of togetherness we didn’t have before. All of this has made the center more attractive and valuable to the community.”