It’s a bright, sunny day with just the right amount of breeze in the town of Prosper – the perfect day for Prosper resident Monica Zimmerman to relax in Frontier Park as her two children play in the playground. Frontier, the flagship of Prosper, is currently the biggest and most popular park town, enjoyed by residents and outside visitors alike.
“My son is six and my daughter is two, so I like that there’s two separate areas for them,” Zimmerman said. “There’s a more toddler-friendly section over here and then there’s a bigger section over here, and there’s lots of things for them to do.”
Zimmerman was talking about one of the numerous facilities that Frontier Park has to offer, from the vast soccer fields to the colorful playground, to the large landmark pond. But, this park is especially in use by athletes.
“Frontier Park (is) specifically baseball, football, lacrosse, athletic leagues,” Prosper Recreation Manager Trevor Helton said. “(There are) specifically five grass softball (and) baseball fields, three synthetic turf baseball (and) softball fields, two multi-purpose fields, soccer fields, and then an open space to meet the needs of the community when it comes to youth sports.”
Even with how extensive Frontier Park is, Prosper is growing at an exponential rate. The Parks and Recreation department says that they must adapt to the new residents’ needs with updated recreational facilities.
“I mean, as quickly as the town is growing, we (the Parks and Recreation department) always have to be proactive in being able to fit the news of the community,” Helton said. “We have the town’s first cricket ground, and that’s just an example of us being able to take a look (at the) community, get an idea of what the community needs, and then implement some of those needs into our future community parks.”
This cricket ground, along with pickleball courts, are a part of Lakewood, Prosper’s newest park located in the south of the town along Coit Road. It is the first of its kind in Prosper as the department’s latest efforts have been focused around accommodating the needs of every resident.
“Fast forward to (Sept.) 2024 we opened up Lakewood Community (Park),” Helton said. “Lakewood Community (Park) is going to offer pickleball courts, a cricket ground, (and) soccer fields.”
Assistant Director of Parks Administration Kurt Beilharz further elaborated on Lakewood’s facilities, emphasizing the drastic change from the flagship Frontier Park.
“(In) Lakewood Park, we have three full size soccer fields,” Beilharz said. “We have a cricket pitch which is going to share space between two of those soccer fields. It’s not technically a true cricket field, but it’s a cricket pitch. We have three pickleball courts that are heavily used. We have one full size basketball court. We’ve got a full size playground that has play equipment for little kids (that are) two to five and five to 12-year-olds. We have about 100 parking spots.”
Beilharz previewed the future plans surrounding the parks of Prosper.
“If you include Raymond Park, Prosper will ultimately have five community parks,” Beilharz said. “You have Frontier, which is the biggest; It’s like the flagship. (There is) Lakewood Park, which we just opened, (and) Raymond Park, which will probably be opening in the fall of this year, (and finally) Doe Branch (Park). But the subsequent community parks will not be much different than Frontier, and (will have) the same type of facilities, but none of them are going to be as big as Frontier.”
Opening Raymond and Doe Branch Park will require extensive budget and design planning. Beilharz described the first step towards building Doe Branch Park, which is currently a 162-acre piece of open land in the south of Prosper.
“We have just recently entered into a contract with a company called Kimley Horn, and they’re going to be master planning it for us,” Beilharz said. “We actually went out and did a site walk. The way that process works is they’ve seen the property, and they’re going to start putting together base maps, and then we’ll throw together some general concept plans, and then we’re going to do a survey process.”
Beilharz mentioned the survey process as key to figuring out how the park could be built to satisfy every Prosper resident.
“We’re going to put the survey out to town residents and say this: ‘These are some of the things that we think might work in this park. What do you think about it?’” Beilharz said. “And then they’ll tell us ‘well, we like this. We don’t like this. We want to see more ball fields.’ Once we get all that input back, then the consultant will put together a much more detailed concept plan.”
Prosper resident Kent Elliot has taken the surveys that the Parks and Recreation Department puts out for upcoming parks like Raymond and Doe Branch. He has lived in Prosper his whole life and is an active member in the local community, coming to almost every town council meeting to state his opinions on local issues.
“The community is going to need places to go and for their children to be able to get exercise and do things and do fun things together,” Elliot said. “Once (Raymond) open(s) right across the street from our home, I’ll probably go there, if not to any of the others.”
Prosper officials said that they strive to address the demands of the community when going through the process of building a park.
“They (Parks and Recreation Board) make a determination about what (the) needs are (for) the residents, and by doing that, they’re able to develop parks that include all of the resources and opportunities that residents want,” Executive Director of Prosper Economic Development Corporation (EDC) Mary Ann Moon said. “So all of those things come into play and are considered by the department, and by the board to make certain that whatever investment is made in the parks is very reflective of what the community residents want.”
Residents also play a crucial role in the financial aspect of park planning where they vote on the bond programs to decide how much money they want to allocate to construction and facilities. A bond program allows local governments to fund large capital projects.
“We (the town) will have a bond election coming up in November of 2025 and so this is an opportunity to receive funding, which is typically needed for projects like this,” Helton said. “With the bond program, the residents are allowed to vote on this if they feel like this is something that meets their needs or is important to them.”
However, Moon has brought up a concern about the limited land that Prosper has and the new parks being constructed.
“I think we just have to be real careful that it’s a good utilization of our land because we’re not that big as far as land mass is considered,” Moon said. “And then when you look at some of our neighborhoods that have their own parks, that adds to the opportunities for the community.”
Nevertheless, even though Prosper’s landmass is not increasing anytime soon, the number of new residents is — so Prosper is making it their goal to fit everyone’s needs.
“Prosper is a rapidly growing community,” Beilharz said. “And people want parks. They need all kinds of park facilities. They want ball fields so their kids can enjoy competitive sports. They want playgrounds for the kids to get some exercise. They want trail systems so they can go walking and jogging and bike riding. People want those things. Having a really good park system is important to having a successful municipality.”
