Firemen’s Park trail completed

Work has been completed on a trail project at Firemen’s Park with a celebration of the new addition scheduled for later this month.

The Graham City Council approved Finco Family Enterprises LCC in April to complete the work on the project which widened, improved and added trails in Firemen’s Park. 

The company was one of five that submitted bid proposals in five parts to the city on or before Wednesday, July 9.

The project had total costs of $195,421.50 for construction, $50,000 for engineering work and  $24,442 for archaeological surveys, totaling $249,863.50. The city is required to match 20% of that cost and their portion was $49,972.20.

“This trail represents the culmination of more than a decade long process to improve and enhance our park and recreation facilities,” Graham Parks Board President Alex Heartfield said. “I appreciate all of the hard work, dedication and patience of our city staff, parks crews and those that worked on or with the Parks and Recreation Board in bringing this project to a conclusion. Even though this trail had to be modified and downsized due to the extreme time it takes to navigate through the grant process, it is a significant improvement and a wonderful feature of our parks system that I hope all those that enjoy our parks will be proud of for years to come.”

The city hit a number of roadblocks on the project, with a design being denied by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, archaeological surveys revealing unusable sites and the scope being adjusted. 

The matching portion of the grant is funded by the city through the Park Improvement Fund using part of the $1.3 million received from the Brazos River Authority (BRA) for park improvement projects in June 2018. 

In 2020 and 2021, the city applied for a Recreational Trails and Local Park grant through TPWD to extend the scope of the existing money they received for park improvements in 2018 from the BRA. 
The city was awarded grants from TPWD in May 2021.

Firemen’s Park projects completed with that funding are the construction of a new playground, two new dog parks, new and renovated holes for the disc golf course and bathroom renovations. 

City Manager Eric Garretty said completion of the trail project marks a milestone for the Graham Parks Department Board of Directors and for the city and its residents.

“A decade-long effort has been realized as a fully revitalized Firemen’s Park has been delivered to our park patrons,” Garretty said. “A new playground, a new dog park, a remodeled pavilion, and an expanded, integrated trail system are tangible monuments to the outstanding efforts of our dedicated citizen volunteers who contributed countless hours to make this dream a reality.”

Garretty and Jacob & Martin Project Manager Tristan King spoke on the project in October with the Graham Parks Department Board of Directors and said work was underway with an estimated November completion date, weather permitting.

The original scope of the project had a trail that looped around the Graham soccer fields across FM 61 from Firemen’s Park, but the scope of the project was adjusted in August to remove that trail. The tradeoff for that removal was greater improvements to the trails within Firemen’s Park.

The soccer field trail is 3,000 linear feet and removes an estimated $63,000 from the project. The entire trail project is 5,400 linear feet and removing that portion of the project left 2,400 linear feet of trail in Firemen’s Park, exclusively.

A ribbon cutting ceremony for the trail will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 22 at the park to celebrate the addition.