“This park could be the heartbeat of our neighborhood.”
That’s Preston Hollow East neighbor Kim McBride summing up her vision for Preston Hollow Park. For the past two years, she has been one of the neighbors working to see this 8.8-acre park at the corner of Park Lane and Thackery Street reach its full potential.
The move to revamp the circa 1947 park started when the Preston Hollow Early Childhood PTA donated $5,000 for upgrades.
“We approached the city to find out how we could spend that money to improve our park,” McBride says.
But as it turned out, the city had just allotted $125,000 in 2006 bond money toward improving Preston Hollow Park.
“It was just perfect timing,” she says.
So McBride and Katie Machaj, the park liaison for Preston Hollow East homeowners association, came on board to work with the city on a plan to overhaul the park.
The plan calls for upgrades like woodchips on the playground, which is safer than the current sand there, and circular benches around the large oak trees in the center of the park, so more parents can sit and watch their kids play.
But McBride says the park improvements are about more than just better play equipment and nicer benches.
“My kids are actually about to outgrow that playground, but I still want to invest in this park because by improving it, we are creating a community gathering place,” she says. “That’s especially important because we live in a neighborhood with large lots, so people aren’t out in their front yards often, which means you really don’t see your neighbors much. The park can be that natural meeting place where you can connect with your neighbors.”
The park overhaul will begin by early June, and last about three months. Preston Hollow Park will be closed for the summer during construction. The new and improved park will reopen in the fall with a community picnic celebration.
Ultimately, McBride says she would like to see Preston Hollow Park become a true neighborhood hub, complete with annual chili cook-offs and picnics.
“I want to get back to that grassroots feel, and let our neighborhood shine through the park,” she says.
“Plus, there aren’t many parks around here, so we have a real treasure here.”
Richard Ritz, a Dallas Park and Recreation senior landscape architect, has worked on the Preston Hollow project from the beginning. He says in order for Preston Hollow Park to truly flourish, more neighbors will have to follow McBride’s lead.
“We always encourage neighbors to take an interest in their park because when they’re invested, they watch out for things like vandalism and crime there,” Ritz says. “And we can do only so much with the city budget, but neighborhood groups can really augment the improvements we make.
“The most important thing is that neighbors here take ownership — after all, this is their neighborhood park.”
