City officials may buy 5 acres in Central Meadowbrook to turn into a small neighborhood park.
On Feb. 24, the Fort Worth Park & Recreation Department hosted an informational meeting with nearby residents at the Meadowbrook Golf Course clubhouse to discuss acquiring a privately owned site at 2201 Watson St.
District 11 City Council member Jeanette Martinez attended the meeting hosted by Lori Gordon, planning manager for the department, and Joel McElhany, assistant director of park and recreation.
Gordon said the city is divided into a couple hundred neighborhood park units that “have between 3,000 and 6,000 people that live in them.”
The unit that includes Meadowbrook contains Oakland Lake Park and Meadowbrook Golf Course, but no neighborhood park.
“Neighborhood parks do not have parking,” Gordon emphasized. “That’s something that’s meant to be a walk-to destination, so there will not be a parking lot for this particular development if we pursue this purchase.”
Residents raised concerns about parking. City staffers told attendees that related questions could be discussed with the city’s Transportation & Public Works Department after a decision is made on purchasing the land.
The site is bracketed by Meadowbrook Drive to the south and Barnett Street to the north. The property is fairly level, bisected by a stream lined with trees, the staff said.
If the city decides to buy the property, it issues a letter of intent. Considerations include a site analysis that includes soil tests to identify potential contaminants. The process considers ownership, mineral rights and topography, the staff told the residents.
Meadowbrook Parkland Acquisition Meeting
Documenter name: Patrick Banis
Date: Feb. 24, 2026
To learn more about this meeting, click here.
Suitability as a park is the city’s primary concern at this phase, staffers said. The acquisition process typically lasts nine to 12 months and includes more informational meetings.
The building phase for a park, once a site is acquired, can last three to five years.
Public engagement allows for community feedback on design.
Typically, a park will include covered shelter, playground, walking trail or loop, and multiuse courts for basketball, pickleball or tennis. Other considerations could include whether to create features that trap water and create a lake or pond, or whether to pipe drainage underground and make it a green space.
Residents raised some questions about public safety.
The staff members said lighting, clearing of trash and undergrowth as well as regular mowing would improve sightlines. Police will be able to observe the park during neighborhood patrols, the staff said.
Residents raised questions about sidewalks for walkability and accessibility. Both would be requirements in the park’s design, the staff said.
Community members were concerned about the impact this park would have on funds for established parks.
McElhany said funding for parks comes through different buckets of money. Some dollars come through park dedication fees generated through residential development. The city also has bond funds, money raised through mineral rights, PayGo funds raised mostly from property tax, and capital improvement funds.
Patrick Banis is a member of the Fort Worth Report Documenters crew. If you believe anything in this account is inaccurate, please email us at news@fortworthreport.org with “Correction Request” in the subject line.
This <a target=”_blank” href=”https://fortworthreport.org/2026/03/21/5-acres-near-central-meadowbrook-eyed-for-neighborhood-park/”>article</a> first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https://fortworthreport.org”>Fort Worth Report</a> and is republished here under a <a target=”_blank” href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/”>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>.<img src=”https://i0.wp.com/fortworthreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/cropped-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&quality=80&ssl=1″ style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”>
<img id=”republication-tracker-tool-source” src=”https://fortworthreport.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=454687&ga4=2820184429″ style=”width:1px;height:1px;”><script> PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: “https://fortworthreport.org/2026/03/21/5-acres-near-central-meadowbrook-eyed-for-neighborhood-park/”, urlref: window.location.href }); } } </script> <script id=”parsely-cfg” src=”//cdn.parsely.com/keys/fortworthreport.org/p.js”></script>