Mayor's Corner

One of the most exciting steps for Lewisville during 2009 came in November when we opened the new 274-acre Railroad Park athletic complex. That facility cost more than $20 million in voter-approved sales tax money, and is the largest capital project in the city’s history. Everyone I’ve talked to about the park has told me how impressed they are with the quality of the fields and facilities, and with what a great job our parks workers do maintaining it. The skate park and dog park are extremely popular and just about always full of people who have been waiting for those kinds of facilities for many years. Some people have asked what value the city will get out of a $20 million investment. The biggest return is the recreational opportunities and quality of life that are being provided. During the first eight months the park has been open, we’re already seeing another answer -- the park is becoming a major economic engine for Lewisville. Earlier this year, the park was host site for the Regional Amateur Tour (RAT) Skateboarding season kickoff event. In the months that followed, we hosted Panda Cup International Soccer Tournament, American Southwest Conference Women’s Softball Championship, Texas Firefighter Olympics and two weeks of AAYBA World Series youth baseball. Each of those events has boost our local hotels, restaurants and retailers. For example, during the first week of July we welcomed four age divisions of the AAYBA World Series. After the event, we confirmed with local hotels that nearly 1,800 room-nights were booked as a result of that event, and we measured an estimated total economic impact of more than $700,000. Four more age divisions came back the third week of July, filling 1,500 room-nights and generating more than $600,000 in economic impact. That would not have happened without Railroad Park. Overall, of the more than 600,000 room-nights that were booked in Lewisville hotels during 2009, about 50,000 were related to youth and recreational sports. We expect that total to grow by at least 15 percent this year because of sporting events coming to Railroad Park. I hope everyone has had a chance to visit Railroad Park and see what a great facility Lewisville now has. When you look around at the lush green lawns and sports fields, remember that the park also is producing another kind of green -- economic success.

Updated last on 08/12/2010