Nixon renames property next to City Hall as ‘Central Park’

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What does Nixon, Texas, now have in common with New York, New York?

Both have a Central Park.

The Nixon City Council voted unanimously Monday, Jan. 13, to rename the area between Nixon City Hall, 302 E. Central Ave., and Family Dollar, 408 E. Central Ave., the City of Nixon Central Park.

This is the first step towards developing the property into a full park featuring four permanent 20x20 pavilions, an accessible concrete bridge crossing to City Hall, paved parking for 15 cars, concrete sidewalks, a stone monument and flag poles, 12 picnic tables, four play sets, eight benches, stone signage, oak trees and crepe myrtle trees, decorative lighting and a restroom facility.

The property has already been used in the past for a number of city events, including Feather Fest, Cinco de Mayo, Miracle on Main and as the site for the official city Christmas tree.

City Administrator Darryl Becker said the city is applying for a Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) Community Development Partnership Program (CDPP) grant by the Jan. 31 deadline in hopes of receiving up to a possible $50,000 to help develop the park.

Several of our citizens, our Chamber and several different organizations have all expressed interest in us taking a look at this,” Becker said.

LCRA gives out CDPP grants twice a year to “nonprofits such as volunteer fire departments, emergency responders, local governments, schools, libraries, civic groups, museums and other tax-exempt nonprofit organizations. The grants are not available to individuals, for-profit entities, professional associations, social service projects or limited-use facilities.”

The city would be responsible with coming up with matching funds of at least 20 percent of the total cost and the project “must benefit or be available to an entire community and improve the value of a capital asset through building, renovating or purchasing equipment.”

Becker presented a series of seven architectural sketches prepared by New Braunfels-based architect Mark Stuart. He said the name “Central Park” has a two-fold meaning: its location on Central Avenue and its central location within the city.

He said the sight of families taking their pictures in front of the Christmas tree in December on the property shows “there is a lot of interest in this and we really needed to look at trying to do something with this.”

It’s not a guarantee, you know, whenever you apply for it,” Becker reminded council. “We hope to apply for it every year and use the grants to help us get this built.”

Dominick DejJesus of the Nixon Area Chamber of Commerce & Agriculture praised the project, saying the site would only be enhanced by the development and making it more user friendly for citizens of the community.

Donald Hoffman, president of the Rancho-Nixon Historical Association, said the park is another step by Nixon to “promote our legacy.”

We need something for our citizens to have a park or beautification,” Hoffman said. “We're pretty hard looking, if you think about it, and this would certainly add a little bit to the softness and décor of the community. I like the idea!”

At one time, the city had been looking to place a Nixon Memorial Park for veterans on the property and had renamed the property Freddy Aguirre Memorial Park, but later found out that the city did not actually have title to the property at that time. The idea of creating a veterans memorial is still ongoing for the city at a site to be determined.

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