Officials request $135,000 for walking trails at Gonzalez Park

Brownsville Parks officials hope to get approval for some $135,000 in funding for improvements to Gonzalez Park in the Southmost area of town.

If approved, the funding will be used to put in a walking trail with lighting on the park’s north side, several picnic tables, barbecue grills and a picnic pavilion, said Chris Patterson, director for the city’s Parks and Recreation Department.

"That part of the park hasn’t had any development" in the past few years, Patterson said. "It is just an unused area of the park."

The park, which has been around since the 1970s, is located on Tony Gonzalez Drive and East 28th Street. While it has basketball courts and a swimming pool, there is no park trail where people can walk, Patterson said.

"There aren’t too many walking trails" in that area of town, Patterson said. He hopes to change that with having the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation fund the project. The BCIC’s mission is to "fund quality of life improvements for the City of Brownsville."

Patterson will present his plan on Wednesday before the BCIC board.

"A lot of the people just have to walk in the street because they don’t really have an area to walk. Now that we have been doing all these trails, we have just been fortunate that they were left over from the railroad," Patterson said.

Patterson said he had been looking at putting in walking trails at Gonzalez Park over the past couple of years and "we are just fortunate that the timing is perfect right now."

One of the most recent improvements to the park was the installation of shades over the pool area at the park. Prior to their installment, visitors had to stand and wait in the sun.

Should the BCIC approve the funding for the improvements at Gonzalez Park, the work could begin soon and should take a few months to complete. "That project won’t take too long," Patterson said.

Since the city implemented its Biggest Loser program, Patterson said he has seen more residents visiting the parks and using the walking trails that are available.

"It hasn’t been a steady increase, it has been an extreme increase in the amount of people wanting to use parks for walking," Patterson said.

According to the Parks Department directory, there are 30 parks in Brownsville.

"It (the Brownsville Biggest Loser) has gotten people out to our parks because people don’t know some of our parks exist. ... I really do think that it has had a good affect," Patterson said.