Water park, beach, more events top list for Marble Falls parks users

JENNIFER FIERRO • STAFF WRITER

MARBLE FALLS — No matter where in the Highland Lakes people live, they agree on one thing: They want more from the Marble Falls Parks and Recreation system.

That’s according to results from an online survey that Halff Associates presented to the city’s parks advisory committee Oct. 24.

“The benefits of parks go beyond having a place to play on a playground,” said Robert Moss, director of the Marble Falls Parks and Recreation Department. “When people are looking at a community to live in — their quality of life — parks are a relevant factor to people to move from one place to another. It’s like that across the country.”

Halff Associates conducted the online survey during August through a link on the city’s website of Marble Falls parks users — residents and non-residents — to determine what they liked about the parks system, what they felt needed to be improved, and what amenities they wanted to see in the future.

The top four items from a list of 30 options were:

• provide a municipal aquatic center/water park;

• upgrade the existing facilities such as restrooms and playscapes;

• provide additional recreational opportunities such as summer concerts and outdoor movies;

• and provide a public beach.

The city is working to upgrade facilities and has had a city beach on its list of possible projects for several years.

The survey revealed that when people traveled outside of Marble Falls to participate in parks and recreational activities, it was to go swimming or play recreational sports.

Survey respondents also said what draws them to the downtown parks of Lakeside and Johnson are festivals and events, the hiking and biking trails, and socializing with family and friends.

Those who took the survey but don’t live within the city limits said they come to Marble Falls to shop (77 percent), for entertainment (63 percent), and for events (62 percent) in a question asking respondents to rank activities.

Of the 588 respondents, 47 percent live in Marble Falls; 41 percent live in Burnet County (but outside of Marble Falls); and 12 percent live outside of Burnet County. Women made up 64.2 percent of respondents. The largest age group to take the survey were 20- to 34-year-olds at 35.8 percent followed by 35- to 44-year-olds at 26.7 percent.

“You can’t ignore those who use our parks,” Moss said. “Those folks come from our service area, not just the city of Marble Falls.”

That service is the Marble Falls Independent School District, which is home to about 23,700 people. The city of Marble Falls has an estimated population of 6,400.

Moss said the survey and other reports done across the country reveal people go to parks for a number of reasons.

“Parents are into parks for playgrounds, and the younger generation are into health consciousness,” he said. “It seems hike-and-bike trails rise to the top.”

An open house on the survey data is tentatively scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 29, at Lakeside Pavilion, 307 Buena Vista.

“The image of a city is reflected in its parks,” Moss said. “When visitors come to a city for the first time, they go to a park, and that’s the first impression they have of a city.”

The Marble Falls parks system includes Johnson Park, 230 Ave. J South; Lakeside Park, 307 Buena Vista Drive; Westside Park, located at the intersection of Second Street and Avenue Q; Falls Creek Park and Skatepark, located at Yett and Main streets; the neighborhood pocket park of Villa Vista on Villa Vista Way (Seventh Street); as well as several sports parks, including Childers Park (1310 Broadway), The Greens (1100 Sixth St.), the Johnson Park ballfield, the Rotary fields (1800 Colt Circle), and VFW Park (1009 Veterans Ave.)

Go to ci.marble-falls.tx.us for more information.

jfierro@thepicayune.com