The Round Rock City Council unanimously approved an agreement with Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. on Oct. 26 for professional engineering and design services for several Old Settlers Park improvements passed in the May 2023 G.O. Bond election.
Old Settlers Park, located at 3300 E. Palm Valley Blvd., is the City’s largest park and hosts several youth and amateur sports leagues. The park’s 640 acres provides space for several recreational options such as disc golf, cricket, tennis, baseball, softball, soccer and more. It is also where Rock’N River and the Round Rock Multipurpose Complex are located, and several of the City’s large special events are held.
The project will include design of the following:
- Additional water features and more parking at Rock’N River water park
- A permanent stage for special events such as Juneteenth, Fourth of July and Light up the Lake
- Replacement of the existing Lakeview Pavilion with a larger structure and restroom facility
- Replacement playground
- Extensive civil and electrical upgrades to provide built-in infrastructure for special events
- Six additional fields and improvements at the Multipurpose Complex expansion to provide more space for local team practices and draw additional tournaments for sports tourism
- Expanded Adult Recreation Complex to include relocation of the existing tennis complex and pickleball courts
A separate project within the park will construct a future Recreation Center approved in the bond, which will also house the Parks and Recreation Department’s administrative offices, as well as new press box facilities associated with the Multipurpose Complex expansion.
Kimley-Horn was previously selected at a Sept. 14 City Council meeting to provide design and engineering services for major infrastructure improvements throughout the park. The design is expected to include a new roadway connection between Harrell Parkway and Kenny Fort Boulevard, reconstruction of Sports Capital Crossing to tie into a revised alignment of Harrell Parkway, a paved parking lot adjacent to Harrell Parkway at the pedestrian crossing, and two multi-purpose fields adjacent to the pedestrian crossing at Harrell Parkway, which will replace the park’s Apex fields. The City will fund the infrastructure improvements with its half-cent, Type B sales tax revenues, which are limited specifically for economic development projects, including transportation improvements.
The projects will be constructed in sequence to minimize disruption to park activities, with the bulk of construction activity expected to begin after August 2024.
As part of its discussions, staff shared the conceptual master plan for Old Settlers Park. Although subject to change throughout the design process, the plan provides a general roadmap for proposed improvements:
The 2023 G.O. Bond package included new construction of and upgrades to parks, recreation and sports facilities, as well as public safety facilities. For more information, visit roundrocktexas.gov/bond.
