This new park in a Fort Worth suburb will have something for everyone
A 55-acre public space with a lake, a bandstand, a food truck area, pickleball courts, softball fields, a playground and a dedicated dog park is coming to Burleson, with the first phase set to open next spring.
The community park, which will be at the intersection of Alsbury Boulevard and SW Hulen Street in west Burleson, was first announced in early 2024. On April 21, the Burleson City Council approved the $320,000 needed to continue construction on Phase 1.
Burleson Parks and Recreation Director Jen Basham said this space is unique because it was almost completely designed using resident input. When she presented the plans to the City Council, she highlighted some of the things people asked for.
“We really heard from the community that they wanted creative playgrounds,” said Basham. “They wanted it to be very inclusive, to include some sports courts, whether pickleball, softball fields, and they wanted it to have a real nature feel.”
On that last point, Basham said the park’s design largely stays true to the sense of being in the wild one would feel if they were to step foot on the undeveloped property right now. That will be incorporated into things like the park’s botanic garden, its trails and its wooded areas.
The park will be completed in two phases. Phase 1 construction is likely to begin in November, and the park’s ribbon cutting is tentatively scheduled for the first quarter of 2026. While Basham didn’t have a total cost figure, the city has allocated or spent approximately $5.5 million up to this point, mostly on land acquisition and initial construction.
A pond on the property will be expanded into a six-acre lake approximately half a mile in circumference. Fishing piers will extend into the lake, and the bandstand, which is expected to host concerts and serve as the centerpiece for community events, will overlook the water. Basham said she foresees the park being used for things like Burleson’s Fourth of July and Christmas celebrations.
Heth Kendrick, a partner at LandDesign, the Dallas landscape architecture firm designing the park, echoed what Basham said about community involvement being integral to this project when he spoke to the Burleson City Council. He said more than 1,000 Burleson residents responded to a survey requesting their ideas, and that his firm took that input seriously.
“This park wasn’t drawn by LandDesign,” Kendrick said. “LandDesign interpreted the feedback that we received from all those people in the community.”
The park will be situated in an area of Burleson that hasn’t been built out and is ripe for future growth. As such, city-owned land adjacent to the park could be used down the road for mixed-use development, according to a presentation given by Basham and Kendrick at the council meeting.
This story was originally published April 29, 2025 at 2:32 PM.