Airline District moves forward with Raymac Park

Plan of the new Raymac Park

By Gilbert Hoffman

Residents of the Airline District can look forward to a new community park in about six months, according to Airline District’s executive director Teri Koerth.

Construction bids were opened last Tuesday, August 11, and six bidders submitted bids. The apparent low bidder was within the budget, and a contract signing and ribbon cutting signalling the start of construction is anticipated within 30 days.

The park is 10 acres, on the site of a former AISD school at 222 Raymac Lane, off Airline Drive.The Airline District has completed a Livable Centers study outlining goals for improved quality of life in the district for the next 5 or 10 years.

Included in the plan are more parks. The goal is to have a park within 1/2 mile of all residents, and to develop about eight parks of various types.

Included would be parks using the Bayou trails system. These include a pocket park, an urban park, and a basin park in the study. In addition a park themed as a Recreation Center is in the plan.

Raymac will be the first free-standing community park in the Airline District, but it joins existing purposed parks Melrose, Dow Park II, and the new Spark Park at Carroll Academy.

Funding for Raymac is a joint venture of the Harris County Community Services Department, with $115,000 of federal CDBG monies, $200,000 from a Texas Parks and Wildlife grant, and the Airline District’s matching share of $50,000. The total budget for the project therefore came to $365,000.

Bids for the construction of the park were received from Metro City Construction, Hubco, Inc., Cooley Construction, Stone Castle, Montgomery Building Services LLC, and Paving Design Plus.

The low bid was submitted by Paving Design Plus, at $290,000 which is within the budget.

Prior to proceeding with a contract, the bids and contractors are being examined by the Engineer, McDonough Corp., and the district’s attorney, Looper Reed & McGraw PC. It is anticipated that the project will start within 30 days and be completed in about 6 months.