At long last, city of New Braunfels breaks ground on new Zipp Family Sports Park

“Now it’s our favorite part — we get to play in the dirt,” Mayor Linnartz said as city officials, staff, and community members soon took turns ceremonially shoveling dirt during the Zipp Family Sports Park groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday.

The sports park located at Klein Road and FM 1044 has come a long way since around 70% of New Braunfels voters approved the project as a part of the 2019 bond.

According to Scott McClelland, assistant transportation and capital improvements director, the $40.8 million project was a collaborative funding effort through multiple sources, such as 2019 bond funds, the general fund and Texas Parks and Wildlife grants.

The sports park will reside on 150 acres of land, with the Zipp family having donated 25 acres of that land.

In phase one of the project, there will be four soccer fields, four baseball fields, four softball fields, proper drainage and ample parking, according to McClelland.

“Ultimately, we hope to get Spawglass started on Nov. 6 working out here, with the completion in early 2025,” Mclellan said during the groundbreaking.

Many other active community members spoke during the ceremony, such as the mayor, Councilmember Christopher Willis and Kathy Meurin.

“Plans addressing seeding, planting, tarping, irrigation and landscaping of the sports fields, I’m going to tell you that none of this happens by happenstance,” Meurin said. “We live in a great community where our city, our county, our organization, our boards and our partners that bring these things to the finish line are willing to help us and make us make these things happen.”

Previously, New Braunfels City Manager Camareno mentioned the arduous work that went into getting the funding for the project, as it had been over budget.

Assistant City Manager Jordan Matney went over some of these budget concerns, due to inflation and restrictions, during the Aug. 14 City Council meeting.

Matney explained that additional funding totaling $10.9 million was presented in November 2022.

In July, there was a review of the cost estimate and value engineering decisions that concluded that an additional $3.5 million was needed for funding.

A resolution was presented and passed during the August meeting to approve a project expenditure, recommended by the New Braunfels Economic Development Corporation, of that $3.5 million figure.

“I also want to thank our economic development corporation … and all the members of that board for providing the additional funding needed to bring this project to fruition,” Camareno said during the ceremony. “This project has been challenging from the get-go. It’s no secret that it was over budget … I want to thank our staff that worked on this project. I also want to thank Spawglass, the design team … they did not give up. ”