TPWD approves grants for city park improvements
The city of Graham was awarded matching grant funding from Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Thursday after a decision was approved by the commission for the department. The city applied for a Recreational Trails and Local Park grant through the department to extend the scope of the existing money they received for park improvements in 2018 from the Brazos River Authority.
The city was listed on the agenda for the TPWD meeting for both grants as being recommended for approval by staff of the department. Last year, the announcement of the entities receiving the grant funding was delayed to August 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the city was not awarded the funding.
In February, the city of Graham submitted their new Recreational Trails Grant to TPWD after reevaluating aspects of the previous grant. The trails grant was submitted last year and the city fell just below the cutoff from TPWD for the matching grant award.
“The City of Graham City Council and Parks Board are pleased to announce that we have been approved to move forward with Phase one of our Parks Plan with funding recommended and approved at the May 27, 2021 Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission meeting. The funding comes from 2 applications submitted by the City of Graham one in the amount of $450,950 matching Local Parks Grant and a $200,000 Statewide Recreational Trails Grant. This will allow us to begin final planning and preparations of Phase One of our Parks Plan. More details will be coming soon. The current Parks Board has been Lee Boyd Chairman, Alex Heartfield, Sally Stacy, David Miller, Chris Blanton, and Megan Paris. Special thanks to Laura Taylor and Clark Miracle for assistance with these applications. The list is long of individuals who have helped get this project to completion but through everyone’s hard work the future is bright for our park revitalization,” Graham City Manager Brandon Anderson wrote Thursday.
For the rest of the story, see the May 29 edition of The Graham Leader.
