Parks & Recreation Capital Projects

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Arlington voters approved general obligation bonds in the amount of $45 million in a May 6, 2017 vote, to build an Active Adult Center. The facility is located across the street from the West Police Station, on the southwest corner of the current Pierce Burch Water Treatment site off of Green Oaks Blvd. (between W. Arkansas Ln. and W. Pioneer Pkwy).  

The design phase of the facility resumed in 2021 and construction began in January 2023. The facility opened to the public on March 26, 2025.

Amenities on the Active side include a full-court gymnasium, four indoor pickleball courts, a fitness area, and a walking track. Amenities on the Social side include a lounge with billiards, a special events space, arts and crafts room and more. The aquatics components are scheduled to be complete in late summer 2025.

ACTIV is the third recreation center opened by Arlington in the past five year, preceded by The Beacon in southeast Arlington and the East Library and Recreation Center in East Arlington in 2020. ACTIV is also located at the newly designated Centennial Park, which is Arlington’s 100^th public park dedicated as part of Parks & Recreation’s 100^th anniversary last year.

Outdoor amenities at ACTIV include a patio, outdoor walking trail, six pickleball courts, and a community garden where patrons can rent a bed for gardening year-round. 

The City is designing a new .619 acre park located on E. Front Street between N. Center Street and N. Mesquite Street and Union Pacific Railroad. The new park will allow for an interactive experience and a gathering point for residents and visitors to downtown Arlington. The park’s location is ideal to connect the new developments on Front and Division streets to the increasing vibrant downtown core south of the railroad tracks.

The Rotary Club of Arlington commemorated its centennial by donating “Boundless,” a new interactive public art piece at the future Rotary Dream Park site as Phase 1 of the project.

The Rotary Club held a dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony for the sculpture June 10. The sculpture celebrates the Rotary Club of Arlington’s 100 years of dedication, vision, and involvement with the community, including its pivotal role in the creation and evolution of the parks system in Arlington.

Phase II of the project includes design and construction of the remainder of the park site, and the re-location of the DREAM sculpture, currently located on property owned by the First Baptist Church east of Founders Plaza and the Levitt Pavilion.

The City will complete the design and construction for the installation of both pieces of work and maintain this park in the future.

Rotary Dream Park is scheduled to open in Fall 2024.

Arlington Tennis Center underwent a clubhouse renovation and restroom expansion that commenced on May 1, 2024. The project was completed in December 2024. The $1.1M renovation includes:

Pro Shop Upgrades:

• Shifting the staff counter to window display near the rear exit. Staff counter will have new solid surface countertops and glass merchandise display
• New flooring and acoustic panels
• Storage mezzanine above restrooms

Restroom Expansion:

• Baby changing stations in both restrooms
• Stonehead resinous flooring
• Pre-fabricated shower units
• Bradley “verge” series lavatory with full-width mirror and purse ledge
• 4 urinals and 4 toilets in the men’s restroom, and 9 toilets in the women’s restroom

Additionally, the renovation replaced the sanitary sewer system, exterior facia, and HVAC.

On June 13, 2023, City Council approved the execution of a professional services contract for work related to the renovation with LBL Architects, Inc., of Arlington, Texas. At the March 5, 2024, meeting, approved the construction contract with Morales Construction Services, Inc., of Mansfield, Texas, an MWBE firm.

Arlington Tennis Center is located in south Arlington at 500 W. Mayfield Road. The facility originally opened in January of 1995, and is fully owned and operated by the City of Arlington. There are 20 lighted outdoor tennis courts, 8 lighted outdoor pickleball courts, a full-service pro shop, and concession area. ATC hosts frequent special events, including numerous sanctioned tournaments, national events, and US Open Sectional Qualifying tournament. In addition, ATC is the host site for dozens of other tournaments and events each year.

ATC's teaching staff are certified professionals (including two top level P-1), with additional on-court staff hired during peak seasons. ATC offers classes, drills and leagues for players of all ages and skill levels from beginner to advanced levels. ATC also has recreational leagues available for both men and women at a variety of times. Call at 817-459-6163 today to reserve a court or register for programs.

Collaborating with the Walton Walker Chapter of the Korean War Veterans Association, the Arlington Veterans Park Foundation completed a Korean War Memorial and Korean Defense Veterans Memorial (KWKDVM) and a Memorial to the Fallen (MTTF) in Arlington's Veterans Park. The KWKDVM consists of five black granite columns placed inside a circular pedestrian area enclosed by a seating wall. Four of the columns recognize the military service branches that served in the Korean conflict. The center column contains a map of the Korean Peninsula. In the center of the memorial, a bronze kneeling military figure faces the granite columns.

The water feature and star in the original Master Plan was replaced in the revised plan with paving consisting of a granite star inside a circle. The existing initial memorial and the Vietnam War memorials surround this star, as do the KWKDVM and MTTF memorials and any future memorials. A five-sided granite memorial contains the names of all the Arlington residents who have died in the nation’s service during times of war. The Arlington Historical Society has an ongoing project to find all the names of the fallen from Arlington.

The Arlington Veterans Park Foundation is the coordinating entity for the memorial area. The Foundation and the Korean War Veterans contracted with Parkhill for design services. The foundation paid the majority portion (62.5%) of the contract to design the Korean War memorial and the Memorial to the Fallen (Master Plan Revision).

The Arlington Tomorrow Foundation awarded $701,765 to the Arlington Parks and Recreation Department for the project. APRD will operate and maintain the memorials and seek operating and maintenance funding in the City’s general fund budget to support these efforts.

Design development commenced in December 2021, and the memorial project was completed and dedicated at the Veterans Day Commemoration Ceremony in November 2023.

Until 1951, Arlington’s “Old Mineral Well” had served as a bustling community gathering place for nearly six decades. Today, a new public landmark recently completed in Downtown pays tribute to this piece of Arlington’s past while creating a new gathering space for generations to enjoy for years to come.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Saturday, Sept. 16 for the Mineral Well Public Plaza, located on the west end of the plaza area between City Hall and the George W. Hawkes Downtown Library.

The $2.3 million Mineral Well Public Plaza project was substantially funded by the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation. The charitable endowment has awarded 505 grants totaling $43.2 million to benefit the Arlington community since it was created in 2007.

Downtown’s newest gathering space features a 40-foot-tall, lighted clock tower, seating, landscaping, and a fountain with four lion busts that reflect the look of the historic mineral well. Please note that the water feature does not draw mineral water and is not designed for the public to play in, walk through or drink from.

The project was designed by national award-winning landscape architect and designer James “Jim” Richards and MESA Design Associates, Inc. of Dallas Texas developed detailed design concept and construction documents to meet existing site conditions and design standards. The project was constructed by Millis Development and Construction-Dallas, LLC and the lion bust sculpture panels were created by local master sculptor Janice Hart Melito.

The original mineral well was drilled at the intersection of Main and Center streets in the early 1890s. The site was not only a public water source but the focal point for cotton sales, rallies, parades and other community gatherings. The original well was utilitarian in style and replaced with the iconic lions bust fountain well in the 1910s. Over the years, the mineral water from the well became profitable for having healing properties and was converted into a small hut in the 1930s boasting the “Home of the Arlington Crystals.” Throughout the many iterations of the mineral well, the lion busts remained a prominent feature. The well, which was located about 320 feet east of the new clocktower and fountain, was permanently capped and paved over in 1951. Though gone for decades, residents can find tributes to the mineral well throughout Downtown. These include a replica fountain with lion busts by the Vandergriff Building, the 1976 Mineral Well monument relocated from the former Downtown Arlington Library site to Founders Plaza, signage on the Center Street sign poles, and one of the well bowls on display at Knapp Heritage Park.