Rose Park reopens as place for all

By Amanda Rogers

Mansfield Record

Mansfield will get an early Christmas present on Friday when the newly redesigned and redeveloped Katherine Rose Memorial Park reopens to the public.

The $7 million redesign includes a 2-acre inclusive playground, three times as many parking spaces as before and new restrooms.

“Everybody loves Rose Park,” said Ann Beck, marketing and communications manager for Mansfield Parks & Recreation. “It’s so important to the community. Everyone has memories there. We want to keep it an important part of the community. This is a really special place.”

The 40-acre park was originally opened in 1996 in a pecan grove at 303 N. Walnut Creek Drive. It is the most popular park in the city, Beck said. While the Skinner Sports Complex is also well-used, Rose Park has more unique visitors, she pointed out.

But the park needed an update.

“In 2021, we knew the playground needed to be replaced,” Beck said. “Playgrounds have a 10- to 15-year lifespan, and this one gets a lot of use. Where the playground was really limited is because it’s in a floodway. The playground and the restrooms were in the floodway.

“We said ‘How do we take Mansfield’s favorite park and make it better?’” Beck said. “What if we could start over from scratch?”

The parks department knew there were things that needed to be changed and wanted to add others, she said.

“Adding an adapted and inclusive playground was high on everyone’s list,” Beck said. “The old playground was accessible to wheelchairs, but once you got to the top there was nothing to do but turn around. It didn’t feel like you were a part of everything. The goal was for kids to all be able to play together.”

So the parks planners brought in the experts – kids.

“We got a call from Ann and she asked us what kinds of things did our kids need,” said Katie Mejia, mom of 9-year-old Lilly and 4-year-old Waylon.

Lilly has autism and sometimes has motor skill and coordination issues, her mom said.

Beck and several parents of special-needs kids visited PlayGrand Adventures, an inclusive park in Grand Prairie, to get ideas.

“We wanted a fenced-in area, wheelchair accessible, separate places to play and all the spinning equipment,” Mejia said. “Families like us, it’s a struggle to be out in public. Ann taking the time to ask us what we need is everything. It makes us feel seen.”

Jessica Hinojosa and her son, Evan, also gave input. Evan, 12, has a chromosome difference.

“When he was littler, he wasn’t able to do all the things,” said Hinojosa, who has served on the Mansfield Park Facilities Development Corporation board for three years. “I love that we can say we are including everyone, that’s especially important to me. This is for all, not just those who can.”

The new playground has four separate areas, and all are inclusive.

- The Treehouse Towers include climbing structures and 100 feet of ramps that go to the second story with interactive play panels along the way, three spiral tube slides, sensory boards and play activities. The tube slides are metal because children with cochlear implants can’t use plastic slides since they can cause static and cause their devices to malfunction.

This area also has Walnut the Squirrel, a 12-foot metal climbing area that looks like origami. The first-of-its-kind structure allows kids to climb inside and peek out. There are musical instruments inside, rope netting and kids can slide out his tail. Two giant acorns with slides are nearby.

- Acorn Alcove is for ages 2-5 with ramps, slides, climbing structures, musical garden, storytime hut and the Mushroom Meadow with stepping stones that look like mushrooms.

- The third area is all about swings - swings for little kids, bucket swings, disc swings, wheelchair swings, a four-way seesaw and a merry-go-round that can accommodates kids in wheelchairs.

- The final area is the Squirrel’s Nest, a 40-foot structure that is 12-14 feed high with straps and mesh, a huge hammock, slides and stepping stones.

“The Squirrel’s Nest is probably going to be the most popular place to play,” Beck said. “It’s only the second or third in Texas. It has a giant shade structure over it.”

The new restroom, which was moved out of the floodway, is three times as large as the previous one, with three family restrooms with large changing tables, in addition to the regular restrooms.

And the parking lot now winds around to the back of the park. The rose gazebo, which was removed during the redevelopment, will be relocated near the pond in the back of the park.

No trees were removed during construction, the large pavilion and small pavilion were not affected, and two smaller pavilions were added. The walking trails around the park were also unaffected.

The $7 million price tag will be covered by $4 million left over from the American Rescue Plan (stimulus package during COVID), $1.5 million budgeted for the new playground equipment and $1.5 million from the Mansfield Park Facilities Development Corporation, which is funded by the city’s half-cent sales tax.

The park, which has been closed for the past few weeks to finish construction, will reopen with a brief ceremony at 11 a.m. Friday with Santa Claus doing the honors.

Parking for the ceremony will be at R.L. Anderson Stadium, Town Park and Hardy Allmon Park with free shuttles running from 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m.

The parks department isn’t done yet, though. The soccer fields at Hardy Allmon Park, 310 N. Walnut Creek Drive, have been relocated to the new Hardy Allmon Park at the north end of Smith Street. Lighting will be added to the relocated soccer fields, which should open this spring. A bridge is planned that will connect the new Hardy Allmon Park to the trail between Rose Park and Town Park.

In the space where Hardy Allmon is currently, will be an expansion of Rose Park that will include three basketball courts, three sand volleyball courts, four tennis courts, six pickleball courts, restrooms, expanded parking, walking trail, 40-yard-dash track, pavilion, outdoor fitness plaza with six to eight stops for circuit training and a ninja fitness course.

The expansion is still in design and construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2026, Beck said.