More than four years after golfers played their last round at Sycamore Creek’s nine-hole course, Fort Worth officials will use a $1.5 million grant to turn the 92-acre site into a community park.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission approved funding for Sycamore Park on Jan. 25 as part of its latest round of local park grants. Dallas and Denton were also among the 40 parks systems that received grant funding.
“With this grant, we are well on our way of turning an old golf course into a nature haven for the community,” said Fort Worth City Council member Chris Nettles, who represents the area.
Fort Worth has already set aside $4 million for Sycamore improvements, drawing from 2022 bond funds and natural gas drilling revenues. The additional grant funding will be spent on construction expected to kick off in spring 2025. If all goes to plan, the project will be completed by February 2026.
The city’s project focuses entirely on adding new amenities to the northern part of Sycamore Park. The former municipal golf course, located just off U.S. 287 north of East Vickery Street in east Fort Worth, was built in 1932.
Fort Worth’s parks department bought the course in 1977 and oversaw operations for 42 years before deciding to shut it down in 2019, citing the course’s lack of profitability and high maintenance costs.
In early 2020, City Council members approved a new master plan for the expanded 154-acre Sycamore Park. Once completed, the park will include walking and biking trails, expanded wildlife habitat areas and public safety improvements such as lighting.
“The proposed project would serve the overwhelmingly minority community by opening up the park with new amenities and trails allowing them to experience Sycamore Creek and connections to the city-wide Trinity Trail system,” the city’s application to Texas Parks and Wildlife reads.
The city also plans to transform a former golf course water hazard into a wetland to improve water quality in Sycamore Creek. Wetland facilities take river water and run it through plants and vegetation that clean the water. The process removes sediment and nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus, which can be harmful to water quality in large quantities.
Beyond recreational and water quality improvements, the city will fund an archaeological survey recommended by the Texas Historical Commission to determine if there are any unrecorded archeological sites in Sycamore Creek.
City staff submitted the Sycamore project to Texas Parks and Wildlife because it already had an approved master plan and enough available funds to match the state agency’s grant, said parks spokesperson Karen Stuhmer.
“Being awarded the TPWD grant will allow a greater scope to be completed during this phase,” Stuhmer said.
While the city shut down two municipal golf courses in the 2010s, Fort Worth’s parks department has dedicated millions to renovating courses at Rockwood Park and Meadowbrook. City staff expect to finish $13 million in improvements to Meadowbrook Golf Course by summer 2025.
Haley Samsel is the environmental reporter for the Fort Worth Report. You can reach them at haley.samsel@fortworthreport.org.
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