{"id":347035,"date":"2026-06-23T13:42:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T13:42:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/347035\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T13:42:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T13:42:07","slug":"al-rollins-park-opens-in-southwest-arlington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/347035\/","title":{"rendered":"Al Rollins Park Opens in Southwest Arlington"},"content":{"rendered":"

Published on June 23, 2026<\/p>\n


\n
\n
\n
\n \"Group <\/p>\n

Arlington residents now have a new neighborhood destination to enjoy with the opening of Al Rollins Park on June 20, 2026. The 2.4\u2011acre park, located next to the Southwest Branch Library, represents years of planning and community collaboration aimed at creating a welcoming public space while honoring one of the city\u2019s most influential early leaders.<\/p>\n

Al Rollins served Arlington in several key roles beginning in the 1950s, including City Engineer, Director of Public Works, Director of Utilities and City Manager. His work helped guide Arlington through a period of rapid expansion, and many of the city\u2019s foundational public projects were shaped by his leadership.<\/p>\n

The park\u2019s design reflects input gathered from neighborhood meetings, a citywide survey conducted in 2022, and a creative partnership with second\u2011grade students from Wood Elementary. Their ideas helped shape a space that blends recreation, nature and quiet gathering areas. The park includes:<\/p>\n


\nPlay areas for children ages 2\u20135 and 5\u201312 in an ability-inclusive playground
\nA 0.14\u2011mile walking trail designed for casual strolls and daily exercise
\nA dry creek feature with native landscaping
\nPollinator and wildflower gardens
\nOpen green space for unstructured recreation
\nAn interactive pipe\u2011style park sign inspired by student sketches <\/p>\n

“We’re thrilled to open Al Rollins Park and celebrate the incredible legacy of a man who gave so much to this community,\u201d said Parks, Recreation & Culture Director Gary Packan. \u201cAl Rollins literally helped build this city and it’s wonderful that residents will now have this beautiful space to enjoy while honoring everything he contributed. This park is a gift to the neighborhood, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to see it come to life. There’s truly something here for everyone, from the youngest visitors to folks just looking for a peaceful place to stroll. And being right next to the Southwest Branch Library makes this spot extra special. We’re already looking forward to the programming possibilities that connection brings.”<\/p>\n

The opening of Al Rollins Park adds to Arlington\u2019s growing network of public spaces at a time when the city continues to receive national recognition for park accessibility. With 103 parks and 60 playgrounds, Arlington\u2019s recent ParkScore\u00ae rankings show 77 percent of Arlington residents now live within a 10\u2011minute walk of a park, well above the D-FW and national averages.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published on June 23, 2026 Arlington residents now have a new neighborhood destination…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":347036,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-347035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth-headlines","tag-fort-worth-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=347035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347035\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/347036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=347035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=347035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=347035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}