STRAWN (AP) — It’s been nearly eight years of waiting.
In 2011, a site near the small-town of Strawn, best known for chicken-fried steak at Mary’s Cafe and six-man football, was selected to become 4,400-acre Palo Mountains State Park to serve Tarrant County and the western half of the Metroplex.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports the park, with 1,400-foot ridgelines, creeks and hardwood forests, quickly became known as “the Metroplex’s playground” — but it has been stuck in limbo awaiting funding from legislators.
Now that funding — $12.5 million — has been allocated in the appropriations bill hashed out by the House and Senate, but there’s a catch. The park, halfway between Fort Worth and Abilene, will still need private donations to open its gates to guests, said Josh Havens, a Texas Parks & Wildlife Department spokesman.
The park’s initial funding traces back to Tarrant County.
Proceeds from the sale of land that is now the Tarrant Regional Water District’s Eagle Mountain Park helped provide the seed money for Palo Pinto Mountains.
“Part of the agreement on Eagle Mountain was that the state would build a new state park in close driving proximity to Fort Worth, and we are making good on that commitment,” said State Sen. Jane Nelson, chairwoman of the Senate Finance Committee.
The park’s origins also have a colorful history. A shooting at the Mule Lip Bar in nearby Mingus also ended up providing some of the land for the park.
The park will need about $8 million to $10 million from private donations. The Texas Department of Transportation has $5.3 million set aside for January 2020 to build roads and a camping loop in the park, said Adam Hammons, a state transportation department spokesman.
“We’re very grateful the Legislature appropriated that money,” said Fort Worth attorney Ralph Duggins, chairman of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission. “We’ve got a big job through the Parks and Wildlife Foundation to raise that non-state money.”
