That actually sounds very interesting. However, one thing does concern me with respect to the location: I have lived in the neighborhood just to the north of Gemelle, and dealt with issues pertaining to noise complaints at night, including people shooting off fireworks, and even worse, an occasional gunshot (a couple of which might have been confused with the former). I don't think Isbell Road is a particularly-high crime area, there is some but it is definitely not SE FW or LVT/Calmont. My family owns the car wash on Isbell so I do have a bit of an insider perspective here.
In the daytime, it does at least seem safe enough that I have oftentimes seen people out running by themselves, including women and high school kids from Castleberry. To be honest, I don't think you would see that on an everyday basis if crime were a concern, so that feels like a proxy measure for neighborhood safety. Things can be a bit different at night though. Nobody attending that establishment will likely be driving or walking along Isbell Road, at least north of the levee adjacent to White Settlement Road, but noises from the adjacent neighborhood can easily bleed over. I am hoping that this development will finally encourage the FWPD to crack down on the nighttime noise issues; in fact, I've complained on the non-emergency lines a few times.
Bud Kennedy reported on Twitter that the Fireside Lodge retirement center, one of the largest tracts in the area, was bought by Castleberry ISD.
I am wondering if an expansion or reconstruction of Castleberry High School will occur soon. I knew there were some talks about re-building Castleberry HS completely, and the way Castleberry ISD dealt with building the new Castleberry Elementary in River Oaks involved keeping the old school (now the administration building) operating, while construction on the new school took place in an adjacent empty field (that was used for recess and other outdoor activities). The Fireside Lodge property is large enough to fit an entirely-new high school building on it, including the existing cafeteria and gym at the corner of White Settlement Road and Churchill with a split-level design. Irma Marsh Middle School was recently remodeled and expanded, meaning that Castleberry HS is now more dated than other Castleberry ISD schools (aside from the older sections of Joy James Elementary); I guess a similar remodel/expansion as that which took place at IMMS could occur at CHS, although an entirely new building would permit additional flexibility for more contemporary classroom designs and school layouts.
