Gladewater aims big in Parks & Rec plan, prepares broad grant outreach

There are big dreams in the Gladewater Parks & Rec board’s master plan – a big effort is taking shape to find public money to cover the costs.
“There’s a lot of grant projects out there, a lot of grant availability that’s taking place across the country to revitalize the parks that are out there,” board chair Teddy Sorrells told council members last month. “Together, we’re shaping the future for our community’s parks and recreation space.”
Dream big, Mayor Brandy Flanagan charged the new volunteer group earlier this year.
“I wanted them to think about what was best for our city,” Flanagan said. “How to fund it, how to phase it, that’s all on us to do as a council.”
Funds are limited. With major roads projects underway and coming up, infrastructure issues in water and sewer, looming work at the Lake Gladewater Dam, major equipment purchases and all the other consistent costs that face the community, a key endeavor for Parks & Rec is to land grants to enhance assets already in place.
Bonds are an option, too, and community feedback’s a key component to the plan.
“The foundational pieces of all these things are already laid in our city,” Flanagan said. “Henderson redid almost all of their parks, and they look fantastic – and mostly by grants.”
The master plan’s to be updated every five years. In this first iteration, the volunteers prioritized feasible steps in light of “small-city plans” in Rowlett (pop. 62,500) and Round Rock (pop. 120,000).
“Rowlett is not small, like Gladewater,” Sorrells allowed. “It’s hard to find cities our size that are thinking as big as we are.”
Key priorities in the new master plan include establishing a dedicated Parks and Recreation Department with an allocated budget in addition to revitalizing Lake Gladewater Park, developing a citywide bike and trail system, enhancing Everett Park, creating the Sabine River Paddle Trail-head here, updating and maintaining Bumblebee Park, establishing a citywide recreation league and adopting a City of Gladewater Parks and Recreation logo.
Sorrells was intrigued by success fee-funding in other communities’ plans.
“They were recouping almost 30 percent of their whole parks and rec budget through fees,” he said, acknowledging just 15 percent here would be a big step. For example, the recreation league could require dues to participating or select assets may require fees to use. For example, “We could charge non-residents a fee to have access to our lake. These are just suggestions; we haven’t set anything.”
Contingents of board members are focused on revitalizing Everett Park, Bumblebee Park, etc. One group hopes to expand pickleball at Lake Gladewater – carefully, Sorrells said, since it would likely require relocating an existing, well-utilized basketball court: “We want to make sure we’re looking out for everybody.”
He’s a particular proponent of a ranging, 15-mile bike trail through the community.
“It’s really feasible to see a loop around Gladewater as a bike trail,” Sorrells said. It would require major coordinating with TxDOT in addition to funding. “I’m not saying it wouldn’t be difficult. It can be done. I’ve seen it.”
Council members will review the master plan and return with notes at a future session.
Everything’s fluid, Sorrells said, prioritizing low-hanging fruit in Year One: “Things that can happen pretty quickly, significantly, depending on funding and those kinds of things,” he added. “That’s going to go a long way for public support.”