Acton Place Park plans underway

Acton will soon have its own community park, thanks to the dedication and hard work of several local residents.

Discussion about creating a park in Acton first began in September of 2020. A board of directors for the project was formed in February 2021.

“The community really doesn't have anything that's in this area that has walking trails,” said Todd Hall, president of the Acton Place Park board of directors. “Some of these commercial areas that you've probably been to in Fort Worth that have outdoor turf areas, and people are hanging out, playing catch, and they're doing outdoor movies — that's kind of the vision for this park is to kind of have a multifaceted amenity area for families to be able to use.”

“It's really the sense of community because right now we don't have anything like that, so you don't really get to know your neighbors. You don't get to know the area that you're in,” said board member Melissa Hammons. “For my aspect, I want to be able to go into my community, maybe talk to the other parents that are watching their kids play, you know, just have a place where we can all hang out and get to know everybody.”

The Hood County Development District No. 1 recently purchased the land needed for this project, off of North Gate Road between the Main Place, Grand Place and Acton Landing neighborhoods.

The current master plan for the park — which has a tentative name of Acton Place Park — will have two playgrounds, a walking trail, a dog park, restrooms, a concert stage with an inflatable movie screen, an area for food trucks and a splash area with water fountains.

It’s estimated that the current master plan for Acton Place Park will require $1.5 million in funding, according to preliminary numbers.

“It’s a $1.5 million investment in the kids,” Hammons said, with a smile.

“The Hood County Development District has been very active in supporting this in just the ground itself,” Hall said. “The cost of mowing is roughly $5,000 a year so you know, that would be something that we have to raise right off the bat just to mow the ground, so our hope is that these hard surfaces — once you do concrete and turf and low maintenance areas — that the maintenance actually will go down in that regard."

Hammons said the board plans to apply for state and federal grants, but that can't happen until they are approved as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization by the IRS.

The board's goal, Hall said, is to design the park where it's "self-maintained."

“My big dream is to have it where it has smart lighting with motion sensor lighting that will go off behind a jogger, or someone walking their dog at five o'clock in the morning. There are things that you can do to really make this like a cutting-edge self-sufficient park, but the concrete alone is in the hundreds of thousands of dollars so depending on how much concrete you do, that's less grass you have to mow. Once we get the design nailed down, and we have a budget to go with it, we'll really know where we need to start," he said.

Naming rights for the park from a large donor would be considered, Hall said, as well as bricks that can be engraved with a donor’s name.

“I think that’s a great way to just honor the people who invest in the park, so we’re open for all of those ideas to just partner with the community,” he said. “It’s brand new; we’re excited.”

“I think the important thing is that we're all really passionate and really excited to see this come to fruition and happen for the community,” Hammons said.

Individuals can follow the Acton Place Park Facebook page for updates. A “donate” button on that page will be coming soon.

Donations can be mailed to the Hood County Development District at 6430 Smokey Hill Court, Suite 104.

Other board members for Acton Place Park include Bryan Wooten, vice president; Stephen Windham, secretary; and Josh Combs, treasurer.