Sherman is taking steps to expand one of its neighborhood parks. The City Council recently approved the purchase or about an acre of land adjacent to Martin Luther King Jr. Park for about $250,000 in order to expand the park property.
The city has invested in restoring the small community park in recent years through maintenance, painting and improvements to the nearby Glennie O. Ham Community Center. These efforts have seen upgrades to the playground equipment and the construction of a new pavilion in recent years.
With residential growth taking place in Sherman, city leaders said it was important to acquire the land for the expansion before it was too late.
“We wanted to avoid infill builders acquiring those lots, because that would have never allowed MLK to be expanded,” Sherman Assistant City Manager Terrence Steele said.
The purchase covers the acquisition of four plots of land totaling about 0.97 acres of vacant land along Broughton Street and Vernon Holland. The city has been in conversation with Mt. Carmel Church of God for over a year regarding the purchase of the properties.
“We reached out to the church about a year and a half ago and asked that if they were interested in selling if they would give the city the first purchase,” Steele said.
City staff noted the property is expected to be added to the park, but there are no current plans to improve the land, and it will likely remain as green space. Members of the council asked if this would require the abandonment and demolition of Richards Street, which splits the two properties.
“You would be hard pressed to drive that right now anyway,” City Manager Zachary Flores said, confirming the city plans to demolish the road at some point in the future.
The city has also reached out to the owners of a home on the same block, but Steele said it was important to purchase the church property first in order to secure the park expansion.
“It didn’t do us any good to buy the house if we didn’t have the other lots,” he said.
The purchase was approved in a unanimous vote.
