CITY OF KATY, Texas (Covering Katy News) – A new 56-acre park is taking shape near Katy Hockley Road — and it's designed to do double duty as both a neighborhood gem and flood-mitigation infrastructure.
Legacy Park, developed through a partnership among Parkside Capital, Katy West Municipal Utility District, the City of Katy and Heritage Park West HOA, recently broke ground as the centerpiece of the Legacy Prairie at Katy Court community. The western expansion of the larger Katy Court development, Legacy Prairie is home to 385 homes being built by PulteGroup, Newmark Homes and Perry Homes. The park is expected to be substantially completed next summer.
Right in the middle of Katy's green space corridor
The park's location puts it right next to some of Katy's most-used green spaces. It sits across from The Green at Katy Park — the 46-acre mixed-use development — and Katy Park, the 100-acre youth sports complex that draws more than 800,000 visitors a year to its baseball and soccer fields.
What's coming: trails, a boardwalk, a playground and 125 new trees
Amenities will include a playground, 4.5 miles of trails winding through wetlands, wildflower meadows and native grass areas, a floating boardwalk and dock with direct access to the detention basin, cypress groves, shaded seating and reforested zones, and educational signage along the loop paths. Plans also call for planting 125 new trees throughout the park.
Katy City Council member Gina Hicks welcomed the project at a groundbreaking and on social media.
"Excited for this multi-use detention basin and the natural designs and thought out opportunities for residents that have been incorporated into this development," Hicks wrote.
A path to school — literally
The park is also designed to link into the planned Legacy Trail system, connecting the Katy Court area to Faldyn Elementary and Haskett Junior High.
Years in the making
Council member Chris Harris, who attended the groundbreaking, said he and Hicks worked with developers to ensure the space would be open to the public.
"Councilmember Hicks and myself made extended efforts with the development plans, to get a large PUBLIC greenspace to go before City Council," Harris wrote on social media.
Harris noted that more than 100 acres of public greenspace have been added across the city over the past eight years through the city and local MUDs — and called it a worthwhile effort.
Heritage Park West HOA and board member Michael Meihls were credited by Harris for getting land deeded for the playground portion of the park. Meihls was recently elected to a serve on City Council.
History of the name
The name is a deliberate nod to local history. Legacy Prairie references the Katy Prairie, the vast coastal tall-grass ecosystem that once stretched across the land north of I-10 that Katy residents know well.
Construction is underway
Houston-based KGA DeForest Design LLC is the landscape architect. Earthwork on the detention basins is already underway. The park is expected to be completed alongside the rest of the Legacy Prairie infrastructure.