After a boundary dispute with the city, Mosier Valley Park has resumed construction
.jpeg "Councilwoman Deborah Peoples held a Mosier Valley community meeting at Texas Star Conference Center in Euless on Wednesday evening to provide an update on the progress and future plans for Mosier Valley Park, which has faced delays and funding challenges since 2014.")
Mosier Valley residents voiced their concerns during a community meeting on a long-awaited park that was paused in April because of concerns about boundaries, but construction has since resumed.
Councilwoman Deborah Peoples hosted a Mosier Valley Community meeting at Texas Star Conference Center in Euless on Wednesday evening to provide an update on the progress and plans for Mosier Valley Park, which has faced delays and funding challenges since 2014.
The Mosier Valley community was promised Mosier Valley Park in 2014, to be built on what was the site of the segregated Mosier Valley School. A groundbreaking ceremony was held in February at 11220 Mosier Valley Road, but construction paused on April 6, as residents say the city entered an area that did not belong to it, cleared the land, and cut down protected oak trees that were of importance to the neighborhood.
On June 22, construction for the park resumed, according to a presentation by the city’s Park & Recreation Department.
One issue the community brought up was bringing back the Mosier Valley schoolhouse to the community. In the park’s master plan, which was finalized in 2024, space was left available in case the community was able to bring it back. Currently, the building is a hair salon located at 2020 Bedford Road and plans to bring it back do not look feasible, according to Peoples.
Another concern was building a community center. Jeff Pointer, chairman of the Mosier Valley Property Owners Association, asked for it as part of the plan. Pointer has voiced his concerns in the past as the park has had multiple delays, including cracking in the concrete cap that necessitated replacement.
“We grew up with a community center, and I feel like the money that was put into that slab two or three times could have been used for our community center,” Pointer said.
Scott Penn, senior landscape architect for the city of Fort Worth, said a standard community center is 25,000 square feet, which does not fit the five-acre park. Also, the current budget for the park is $905,000, all of which will go toward park improvements such as playgrounds, trails and more.
Peoples brought up a June meeting last year with Mosier Valley residents at Texas Star Conference Center where she had gathered input and distributed the park master plan for residents to review and provide feedback.
“What I told you in that meeting is that I am committed to going back and seeing if we can work on it now,” Peoples said. “But I don’t want us to stop the plans waiting on that, because we’ll be 10 years further down the road.”
The community brought up additions it would like to have for the park. They include a pavilion over the concrete slab to shield people from the sun; portable toilets, lights and a water fountain. Penn said these suggestions will not be included in the finished park, but can be included in an unfunded needs list for future considerations.
Peoples said she is committed to ensuring the community needs are met. She says the park should finish construction by January.
Velma Morse was born and currently lives in Mosier Valley. She urged the dozen or more residents who attended to allow the park to be built. She said other features can be added, as including more now will delay the park further.
“If we don’t start it’s going to be another 12 years, so I think that we should at least get going,” Morse said.
Mosier Valley, northeast of downtown Fort Worth, off West Euless Boulevard, and south of Euless, is a freedmen settlement founded in 1870 and built by formerly enslaved people after the Civil War.
The schoolhouse, Mosier Valley School, was established in 1924. In 1949, it became part of the Euless school district. Segregation laws prevented Black students from integrating into Euless schools in 1950. The Hurst-Euless-Bedford school district was integrated in 1968, 10 years after it formed, and the Mosier Valley school was closed. The Texas Historical Commission placed a historical marker at the site.
