Source: San Antonio Express-News
By Melissa Manno, Staff writer, Dec 17, 2023

Slated to open in 2025, the Zipp Family Sports Park will include 21 playing fields, a 135-acre ‘all abilities’ field and a range of other amenities, including retail.

After more than a decade of planning, construction of a highly anticipated 150-acre sports park in New Braunfels is well underway.

Dirt flew at the intersection of Klein Road and FM 1044 in late October as public officials, community members and staff celebrated a groundbreaking. Slated to open by early 2025, the Zipp Family Sports Park will provide an expansive recreational hub for athletes of all ages and abilities.

The project will cost the city $40.8 million, according to Community Impact. It will be funded in part by two voter-approved bond issues. The first, in 2013, included money to acquire land for the sports center. The second, in 2019, authorized $10.7 million for the first phase of construction, which is expected to last 15 months.

Additional funding has come from agencies including the city of New Braunfels, the New Braunfels Economic Development Corp. and the National Park Service. In 2020, the project received a $750,000 grant from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

Named after a local family who donated 25 acres to the project, the Zipp Family Sports Park will include facilities for soccer, lacrosse, baseball, softball, disc golf and pickleball. It will feature 21 fields and a 135-acre, all-abilities field at the center of the property intended to host high-level competitions.

The complex will include “both natural and synthetic turf fields, batting cages and warm-up areas that are also available for full team practices with well-oriented circulation from parking to fields and in between,” according to the New Braunfels Economic Development Corp.

Designed by the Norris Design Group, the property will have retail on 15 acres, “securing its spot as the sports and entertainment destination for the city of New Braunfels and surrounding areas.”

Other planned amenities include walking and exercise trails, an 18-hole disc golf course, sand volleyball courts, concessions, a children’s playground and splash pad, picnic facilities, a pavilion and an amphitheater.

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Source: San Antonio Express-News