Fort Worth Planning Urban Park For Southwest Area Of City

FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - In southwest Fort Worth, 16-year old Chris Jones and his friend sit in a hot car passing the time in the middle of the afternoon. There is little else for them to do.

In this part of town, there are a handful of small parks. But the equipment in it is generally playgrounds geared for young children.

Its often up to parents to provide the excercise and sports facilities for the pre-teens and teenagers. And there's certainly no place to gather and play indoors.  "It would be nice to have something do, at least something close," Jones said. "Especially like a family or group thing -- organized."

"We need something when its 105 degrees outside for our seniors and youth to excercise," said Councilman Jungus Jordan, who represents the area.

Jordan says they need a creative solution or the problem will only grow.  The city is planning on using a plot of land off of McPherson Blvd. near South Hulen for a state-of-the art community center.

In fact, the Texas Parks Department awarded the city a million dollar grant to build what it dubbed an 'urban indoor park.'  The new building will be tailored from the outset to accomodate programs people now expect in a community center such as after school programs.

There will also be a 77-acre outdoor park. The idea is to make using the greenspace and the indoor park seamless.  "We'll have facilities for seniors, for youth, for the entire population to use," Jordan said. "We'll have an indoor walking trail. Although it will also have an outdoor walking track for nicer weather."

Fort Worth bond money, state grants and Crowley ISD are funding the $4.6 million project.  Eventually, Fort Worth and Crowley ISD will also team up to build an indoor swimming facility on the site, too.

Construction could begin in early 2012 and take about a year to complete.