This past Monday, April 11, “Taylor Talk with Jason Hennington” welcomed Taylor Parks and Recreation Director, Tyler Bybee to discuss upcoming improvements and additions to all Taylor parks.
Bybee, who has been working in the Williamson County area for 12 years, says his responsibility is to maintain and operate all of the city’s parks and recreation and city events at the parks.
“This year has been really heavy with getting projects moving. We got the Taylor Regional Park Doak Park project approved, and moving and that was a big one,” said Bybee. “It started on 2017 and it was grant funded through parks and wildlife. The council approved it. We are right at construction now and that should wrap up around this summer.”
In addition to establishing new features in Taylor parks, Bybee also spoke about upgrades to the existing structures.
“One of the big things is adding a playground at Doak Park. The southwest part of the city has no play amenities at all,” said Bybee. “It’s between a highway and a railroad track and kids don’t really have any place to go.”
Parking, amenities and shade at Doak Park are also in the works. The 2020 Parks Master Plan listed lighting as one of the biggest and the easiest ways to increase safety.
“Using the Valero Quality of Life funds, we did some projects such as skate park lighting, a basketball court at Robinson Park lighting and we added a restroom by the pavilion,” said Bybee. “We’re looking to really beef up our recreation side of things hopefully within the next year or two.
If you’re looking to reserve a location for an event, the Taylor Parks And Recreation offices have moved from the Public Works building and are now located by Memorial Field.
“We are honored to step into the history of Memorial and what it was for the city and the school district,” said Bybee. “I think we’re going to see a lot of improvement at Murphy Park within the next five years.”
Since the field now belongs to the city, local sports now have a field. St. Mary’s Catholic School has been regularly utilizing Memorial Field lately, along with a semi-pro football team
“We want to open up the park. Murphy’s a great park but it’s a little bit disconnected. We want to open those trails,” said Bybee.
A question that came across just before the show was regarding playgrounds for children ages 3-5.
“Moving forward we already did that a little with percussion park, and, we have some sprinkled around. Moving forward, adding things for smaller children will become a focus,” said Bybee.
