17 replies to this topic

[Stadtplan]

Every time I drive past here on Harwood & Forest Ridge Dr., I'm impressed by the magnitude of this project and size of the site.  Very nice job.

 

 

More Info:

https://www.bedfordt...k-at-Boys-Ranch

On November 6, 2017, Bedford voters passed the General Obligation Parks Bond for $70 million, authorizing funding for the redevelopment of Boys Ranch Park and transforming it into Generations Park at Boys Ranch. Construction is anticipated to be completed in fall 2022.

 

In June 2019, the City Council voted to allocate $64.5 million towards construction of Generations Park at Boys Ranch (Phase Next) and $5.5 million towards the design and construction of a visual performing arts center at the Old Bedford School. For detailed information on the project timeline, please visit the Project History webpage.

https://bedfordtx.go...Project-History

 

 

 

[Stadtplan]

Generations Park at Bedford Boys Ranch had an open house ribbon cutting today.

Sone recent news of the ongoing expansion projects.
https://amp.star-tel...e270731667.html

[steave]

Terrible project.

 

$70 million dollars, which is way too much money for a single park, went to the reconstruction of an existing park less than 25 years old with existing sports and pool facility and replaced it with a new one that is now operated by the YMCA (a private nonprofit organization that is also religiously affiliated) that charges expensive membership fees to people who don't ask for its charitable reduced costs. So now Bedford no longer has any many public recreation features as it used to. I've noticed a trend where old school YMCA branches in blue collar neighborhoods are disappearing and the new YMCA branches are extravagant and exist in affluent suburbs and replace existing parks and recreation programs and assets making them less available. For example LVT Rise in West Fort Worth used to be a Y which closed and after the city bought it downsized. IIRC wasn't the Northpark YMCA conversely built with public dollars and supposed to be a public facility?

[Stadtplan]

Terrible project.

 

$70 million dollars, which is way too much money for a single park, went to the reconstruction of an existing park less than 25 years old with existing sports and pool facility and replaced it with a new one that is now operated by the YMCA (a private nonprofit organization that is also religiously affiliated) that charges expensive membership fees to people who don't ask for its charitable reduced costs. So now Bedford no longer has any many public recreation features as it used to. I've noticed a trend where old school YMCA branches in blue collar neighborhoods are disappearing and the new YMCA branches are extravagant and exist in affluent suburbs and replace existing parks and recreation programs and assets making them less available. For example LVT Rise in West Fort Worth used to be a Y which closed and after the city bought it downsized. IIRC wasn't the Northpark YMCA conversely built with public dollars and supposed to be a public facility?

 

It's interesting to compare facilities and pricing for memberships.  The Epic in Grand Prairie family resident membership is $499 / year for (5) people.  COFW community center gold-tier fitness family memberships runs around $540/year for access to the community center and all tiers of gym services.  The Bedford Center at Generations park is around $684 for full family resident membership including the aquatic center and gyms.  They have some variations of family membership depending on # of adults but this is about what it runs.  As a comparison, a family of (5) standard membership at Lifetime Fitness in Mansfield is $3,588.  

[JBB]

I lived in Bedford when the Boys Ranch project started and, yeah, it's been a bit of a mess.  I wasn't much of a fan of phase one that refurbished the lake.  It was in poor condition due to lack of maintenance and the sterile concrete replacement let them off the hook to some degree.  The park has lost some of its charm, but the rec center seems to be a pretty good replacement for the inadequate and aging gym.  I don't really have an opinion on them turning it over to the YMCA.  For all of the talk of it resulting in expensive memberships, I've read that they are far exceeding their projected membership numbers in the first 6 months of operation.  Working with the YMCA put them in a position to purchase their old facility on Central with the intent of reusing it as a senior center.  That move addresses one of the biggest shortfalls of the Boys Ranch project in pushing the senior center into shared space.  The city of Bedford has struggled over the two decades or so since they were subject to a painful property tax roll back election.  Subsequent city councils struggled to toe the line when it came to tax rates and they always found themselves behind the 8 ball with respect to development and city services.  The council has almost completely turned over since they Boys Ranch bond election and I give the current group credit for trying to make the best of it.

[Stadtplan]

This is sort of the defacto Bedford thread I guess, but I noticed they have a new performing arts center underway.  I love these kind of projects:

 

https://www.tdlr.tex.../TABS2023027040

 

PROJECT

Project Name: Bedford Performing Arts Center

Project Number: TABS2023027040

Facility Name: Bedford Performing Arts Center

Location Address: 2400 School Lane

Bedford, TX 76021

Location County: Tarrant

Start Date: 9/29/2023

Completion Date: 9/30/2024

Estimated Cost: $11,000,000

Type of Work: New Construction

Type of Funds: This project involves public funds, public land, or is a Federally funded roadway project.

Scope of Work: The new Bedford Performing Arts Center is designed as a state-of-the-art performance venue for the City of Bedford. The facility will be a multi-purpose building to host various performance events.

Square Footage: 13,000 ft 2

Are the private funds provided by the tenant? No

 

OWNER

Owner Name:

City of Bedford

 

DESIGN FIRM

Design Firm Name:

Brown Reynolds Watford Architects

Design Firm Address:

3535 Travis Street Suite 250

Dallas, Texas 75204

[NThomas]

This is sort of the defacto Bedford thread I guess, but I noticed they have a new performing arts center underway.  I love these kind of projects.

Makes more sense to start a new thread or rename this one as a catch-all instead.

Looks like Bedford is getting a great little multi-purpose facility:
https://www.bedfordt...ing-Arts-Center

[JBB]

I lived in Bedford for 15 years and the city always puzzled me.  Development has largely been stagnant with the surrounding cities adding plenty of commercial development.  They've had a revolving door of city managers and went through a costly and damaging tax rate rollback election nearly 20 years ago that led subsequent city councils to underfund the city out of fear of another rollback.  In the last 5 years, they've had 2 council members forced to resign because they violated the city charter by giving orders to city personnel.  The council passed tight restrictions on building new apartments that essentially turned into a shadow ban on them.  The city purchased large plots of land around city hall and across from Trinity High School in order to control the quality of development.  The city hall land has been waiting on a developer for more than a decade and the land on Industrial was cleared this summer with a vague plan that says they are working with a developer.  The Generations Park plan was supposed to be a 5 phase project that turned into 2 phases when the city feared that voters wouldn't pass that many bond proposals.  The multi-purpose center in the park was supposed to house the theaters, senior center, and rec center space that was displaced in the remodel and it was watered down to a rec center and water park.  The city outsourced management of the building to the YMCA and a small vocal group of residents regularly rails on about how poorly they are running the facility.  As part of the deal with the YMCA, they took over their former facility in the city with plans to redevelop it into a dedicated senior center.  With the addition of the perfoming arts center, their plan to consolidate space has just turned into 3 separate spaces.  Sure, they'll have some nice facilities, but their multi-decade run of instability makes it no wonder that they can't find development partners.

[Stadtplan]

I noticed parking for the 4thFest event seems like a headache.

 

https://bedfordtx.gov/273/4thFest

[JBB]

It always has been and it's even worse since they stopped doing shuttle service from Pennington Field.  Their fireworks display is always really good and we watch it from outside of the park.  Years ago, I found a dead end street about 3/4 of mile north of there that has a perfect view.  It was a good secret early on, but it's become more popular in recent years.

[Stadtplan]

It always has been and it's even worse since they stopped doing shuttle service from Pennington Field.  Their fireworks display is always really good and we watch it from outside of the park.  Years ago, I found a dead end street about 3/4 of mile north of there that has a perfect view.  It was a good secret early on, but it's become more popular in recent years.

 

This year we grabbed a Bedford Snoball and watched from the THR MOB parking lot facing 183.  That was close enough for us.

[JBB]

The shopping center parking lots at Brown Trail/Harwood and Airport Fwy/Bedford Rd offer great views, but I was tired of fighting the crowds.  My spot has picked up in recent years, but I can still get home in less than 10 minutes once the show is over.

[elpingüino]

Bedford's mayor resigns: https://www.star-tel...e279241169.html

[Stadtplan]

Bedford's mayor resigns: https://www.star-tel...e279241169.html

 

No two week notice?

[JBB]

He mentioned a personal matter and there was speculation on social media that it was health related.  I met him a couple of times and he really was a nice guy with the city's best interests in mind.  He's worked hard to keep things moving forward.  If he's ducking away this close to reelection, I would assume it's serious.  I would expect a crowded field in the May election.  There have been an array of individuals that have unsuccessfully run for council in recent years that stay pretty active in city matters that will likely run plus maybe one or two that are currently on the council.

[JBB]

Just glancing at an upcoming council meeting agenda, it would appear that they're planning to go back to the drawing board with the performing arts center because the guaranteed maximum price came back around $3 million over budget after a value engineering process.

[Stadtplan]

Just glancing at an upcoming council meeting agenda, it would appear that they're planning to go back to the drawing board with the performing arts center because the guaranteed maximum price came back around $3 million over budget after a value engineering process.

 

So they're $3M over on a $10M budget after VE?  They might as well just find something else to do with those funds.  They'll spend a good chunk of that just on design fees getting it down to the price they want to pay.  How about a nice outdoor pavilion like the Levitt in Arlington?

 

"If the current facility design cannot be built within the pre-determined $10 million construction budget, the design will be modified."

 

https://www.bedfordt...or early summer.

 

 

Levitt Pavilion:

[Stadtplan]

Rising costs force Bedford to consider other options for performing arts center
https://www.star-tel...e281667993.html