Waco Trib"Parts of the park have been off-limits since 2008, when the city embarked on an unprecedented citywide park development phase, partly funded with $11.7 million in bond funds.
Lovers Leap will reopen this weekend after a two-year makeover that cost more than $1 million.
Mouth of the Bosque will open next week, along with its surrounding trails.
Improvements at Proctor Springs, Jacob’s Ladder, Redwood Shelter and Rock Shelter were finished several weeks ago, and the Cameron Park Clubhouse renovation project is about one month from completion.
City officials hope the new amenities, trails, landscaping and lighting will bring the century-old park to new heights of popularity.
But they’re not done yet.
During the next year, the city is hoping to finish millions of dollars of other projects in Cameron Park and all over town.
In recent years, the city has built or planned some $10 million in Cameron Park projects alone, with about $6.9 million coming from the 2007 bond election.
The biggest single project in Cameron Park has been the renovation of the signature Lovers Leap area, which will open in time for Independence Day picnickers.
The cliff park has been redesigned to be more pedestrian-friendly and to improve the views from the cliffs.
The old loop road has been turned into a walking and bicycling trail.
The parking lots have been pulled away from the cliffs, and the space between has been built up and terraced.
Now visitors can stand well above the cliff fences and take in an unobstructed view of the river valley below.
Officials are hoping to attract families and other visitors with new amenities, including restrooms, rebuilt picnic structures, native landscaping and ornamental lighting.
“This is really going to increase its use, with the two pavilions and these grassy areas,” Fuller said on a visit to Lovers Leap on Thursday. “With the lighting, they’ll be able to stay a little later.”
The historic stone pavilion has a new, steeper roof, and the nearby gazebo has been replaced with a new one with the same rustic cedar construction.
They are the handiwork of construction worker Fred Harris.
Harris said that in working with twisted cedar posts, design drawings could only go so far.
“The architect said, ‘Just do what you want to do,’” he said. “My boss said: ‘Oh, no. Now he’s going to get the big head.’
Harris also built a one-of-a-kind wooden ceiling for a gazebo at Mouth of the Bosque and did the cedar railings for Jacob’s Ladder, the steep staircase linking Rock Shelter to Anniversary Park.
Meanwhile, the city this week opened bids on the second phase of the bond-funded improvements at Cameron Park, including a redevelopment of the park’s “Northern Gateway,” where the Northern Little League ballfields used to be.
The lowest bid came in around $1.1 million, slightly below the city’s $1.3 million estimate.
The money will create a plaza, a pavilion, restrooms, parking lots and trails at the Northern Gateway, positioning it as a picnicking and special event area.
The second phase also includes signage at Pecan Bottoms, a historic study of Proctor Spring and a master plan for developing other parts of the park.
Cameron Park accounts for only about half the money being spent on park redevelopments around the city.
Others include
*The Cotton Belt Trail (map below), a 2.5-mile hike-and-bike trail following an old rail bed between Harris Creek Road and the Waco Regional Landfill.
The project cost is $4.5 million, mostly coming from federal grants.
The project includes a footbridge over the South Bosque River and also includes the new 19.2-acre Trailblazer Park at Harris Creek.
The work on the trails is largely completed, but engineering challenges involving the bridge have slowed the project, Fuller said. The trail should open by December, she said.
* Brazos Park East, formerly known as Cameron Park East, is in the midst of a $3.4 million renovation that should be completed in 2011.
The city is improving a 35-acre section of the park, building restrooms, a stage pavilion, motorboat and canoe ramps, docks, a river overlook, pedestrian trails, parking lots, lighting, landscaping and fencing.
* The South Waco Community Center, which formerly shared space with the South Waco Library, has been gutted to a shell and should be ready by Oct. 1, officials said.
The project will cost $2.5 million, including $1.8 million from the 2007 bond election and $610,000 from federal funds, including stimulus funds.
“It will have a new facade, roof and (climate control), and it will be much more energy efficient and aesthetically pleasing than the old cinder block building,” city recreation superintendent Jeff Goodman said. “It can be more efficiently managed because we can see from one end to the other.”
The finished building will include a meeting center, classrooms, computer labs, game rooms and fitness rooms for weights and cardiovascular exercise.
A new glass facade will wrap around part of the building, creating a new hallway.
*About $900,000 in bond funds have been spent at 12 neighborhood parks to build concrete trails and benches."