Volunteers Chip Away at Restoring Proctor Springs - Waco, TX - News Article Locations on Waymarking.com

"By PHILLIP ERICKSEN

Proctor Springs has drawn untold numbers of weekend picnickers, Shakespearean thespians and disc golfers to the most historical part of Cameron Park for more than a century, but its age is showing.

A historical marker acknowledging the William Cameron family’s first 100-acre donation to the community’s park system stands among limbs, weeds and a creek that no longer quite resembles the 'place where love finds its most delightful abode and trysting place' as the Waco Times-Herald described it in 1910.

But a grassroots effort to restore Proctor Springs has accelerated over the past year. Armed with a string trimmer, a chainsaw and loppers, Michael Honza and Brad Ryals can be found several times a week cleaning up the area, which lies between Sturgis Road and Fourth Street along Wilson Creek.

Ryals, a garden manager at a local hardware store, said he spotted Honza digging muck out of a channel about a year ago and decided to help. They learned they live about two blocks away from each other.

'It’s very much community in action,' said Honza, a Waco home builder.

Proctor Springs' reliance on volunteer help hinged on larger city priorities and a bond election over a decade ago.

In 2007, voters opted to assign $6.9 million toward Cameron Park improvements. By 2010, Proctor Springs had parking, a pavilion, lighting and more. A historic study commissioned at the time found that hopes of access and opportunities for the spring itself would cost more than the city's available funding, senior parks planner Tom Balk said.

'We certainly want to make that core element of the park — the park's origin,' Balk said. 'We want to expand the public's knowledge of that but also make it accessible for everyone.'

Proctor Springs was among several areas that fell short of a complete renovation under the city’s bond election funding, joined by Lawson's Point, Emmons Cliff and the archery range on Park Lake Drive.

Balk said park officials have regularly requested up to $2 million to improve access to Proctor Springs, but the requests have never been approved for the city's five-year capital improvement plan.

In the meantime, Honza and Ryals spearhead the removal of brush, algae, trash and anything else in the way of long-covered history. They have overseen cleanup efforts of a Boy Scout troop and a Baylor University fraternity, and sometimes they go clean the area simply for its calming, almost therapeutic effect.

'When I came out here today, I said, 'Oh, here we go again.'' Ryals said. 'The brush just took over and covered the channels and everything, and nobody knew what was back here.'

A thorough recounting of the park’s past is laid out in the 2010 book, 'William Cameron Park: A Centennial History' by Waco native Mark Firmin.

Some 15,000 people attended the 1910 celebration marking Flora B. Cameron's donation of Proctor Springs in honor of her late husband, William. Baylor President Pat Neff compared the site to Egyptian pyramids, and an architect was hired for beautification efforts.

Depictions of the area, courtesy of the Texas Collection at Baylor, show a wading pond below a staircase leading up to flatter land, where Shakespearean plays were later staged.

Parks Superintendent John Rose also said he aims to have the area restored through the work of volunteers and city employees.

'A combination of all of it is hopefully going to keep that area better than it has been in years past,' Rose said.

Today, several disc golf holes flank Proctor Springs on its southern side. Honza and Ryals have formed bonds with passing disc golfers, some of whom refer to Honza as 'Shovel Mike.'

'The reclamation of the park really owes a debt of gratitude to the introduction of disc golf in that area,' Balk said. 'It's been a good neighbor to us. It's been a good partner in the park for many years now.'

Honza will gladly tell stories of passersby willing to help his efforts of restoring the history-laden area.

'To me, it's awesome that (parents and grandparents) are bringing those kids out here,' Honza said. 'And those kids are making the same kind of memories that the 70-year-olds we talk to, who talk about, 'Oh my gosh, when I was a kid I used to go out here and swim and do all this stuff.''"

Type of publication: Newspaper When was the article reported?: 04/28/2018 Publication: Waco Tribune Article Url: [Web Link] Is Registration Required?: no How widespread was the article reported?: local News Category: Society/People

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