Belton's Heritage Park Awarded Grant from Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission

Belton's Heritage Park Awarded Grant from Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission Thursday awarded the City of Belton a $750,000 grant for improvements to an 84-plus acre addition to Heritage Park that was purchased in May 2018. The funding will help support Phase 1 of planned improvements, which are projected to cost $4.3 million and include the following features:

  • New road (Park Lane)
  • Multi-purpose concrete trail
  • Pavilion renovation
  • Permanent dog park
  • Floating river dock and fish camp
  • Kayak launch
  • Landscaping
  • Retention ponds.

“This is what we hoped for when we purchased the parkland,” Belton Mayor Marion Grayson said about the grant. “The development of this new area of Heritage Park is going to benefit generations of families. We are so grateful for the funding. It will help us stretch local resources and make the park available to citizens sooner.”

Future phases would include multipurpose recreational fields, restrooms, concessions, and amphitheater.

“This grant award is the latest development in what has been a great overall team effort to address future City park needs,” City Manager Sam Listi said. “It began with City Council purchasing the property and has continued with important contributions from Parks and Recreation, Public Works, and Administrative staff.”

In all, TPWC approved $15.7 million in competitive grants for city and county park projects across the state, funding 30 of 77 eligible requests. Belton’s award was one of 15 requests approved today in the Non-Urban Outdoor classification. The federal Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), which has funding appropriated annually by Congress, provides most of the grant funding. TPWC acts as the pass-through agency for local governments in Texas.

Belton’s Heritage Park Project was the fourth highest scoring project among those considered for funding statewide in the Non-Urban classification.

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