MARFA — Construction of a new splash pad for Coffield Park is underway and slated to be done just in time for the summer. The improvement, which has been in the works since 2023, comes during a time when the Parks and Recreation Board is also pursuing community input and a master plan to help envision the future of Marfa’s public parks.
The splash pad — an approximately 1,950-square foot, $245,000 endeavor — will be activated by a button and will not have any standing water, meaning it will be open during park hours, from sunrise to sunset, and will not require lifeguard supervision.
Recently, construction crews poured the concrete base and installed the underground reservoir that will collect water from the splash pad for reuse. Parks Board President Michael Camacho said the project is “coming along swimmingly” and will host kids and other users in time for the fast-approaching summer months. “We’ll be functional and operational definitely within the next month,” he said.
An exact open date, and ribbon-cutting ceremony, is to be announced. The splash pad will remain open for the summer months, likely closing for the season in the fall, Camacho said.
The Parks Board will be able to track how many times the splash pad is used, and how much water it consumes. The underground reservoir will store the used water, which will eventually go towards irrigating the park’s landscaping, Camacho said.
“We want to improve the landscaping around the whole park, to have more shade trees, have more grasses, have more native plants,” he said. “That’s kind of phase two, certainly not going to be done this year.”
Construction on the long-awaited Coffield Park gazebo upgrades, which involve adding on bathrooms and a kitchen, are also ongoing. Camacho said the area is still a work in progress, but concrete block walls have been erected and steel roofing is slated to go up next.
The Parks Board, after completing the required request for qualifications (RFQ) process, recently hired Circle V, an Austin-based landscape architect and community design firm to help develop a master plan for the City of Marfa’s parks. The budget for the initial first phase of a potential three-phase plan is $40,000. Camacho said the Parks Board had several companies to choose from, whose employees were familiar with Marfa and eager to put their stamp on the town’s public spaces.
One of the focuses is the beautification of Coffield and Sunset parks, Camacho said, as well as the accessibility of public spaces for “kids to the elderly and everyone in between.” A master plan for Marfa’s parks will help guide the parks board’s future decisions, Camacho said, and hopefully create more cohesive environments.
“Instead of piecemealing it as a parks board, like, ‘Hey, we’re gonna do this, and then we’re gonna do this,’ we’re taking a pause on installing anything new and trying to have a design, a master plan that we can work from,” Camacho said.
Public input will be a fundamental part of the master plan’s initial phase. The Parks Board will host a meeting in late May where locals will be invited to voice their opinions about what they would like to see in the parks, and online surveys in English and Spanish will be available.
Sunset Park — which is centrally located near the Post Office and library, and technically includes the Marfa Dog Park — is a greenspace the Parks Board really wants to see developed, Camacho said. But community feedback will be paramount in determining how it will grow, he said.
“Do we want Sunset to look like it used to when it had a fountain in it? Or do we want Sunset to have a little amphitheater where live music can be?” Camacho said. “Do we need simple things like more benches?”
The possibility of a “skate path,” a dual function skating and general enjoyment space, may also be considered for Coffield, he said. The pursuit of grants will likely be needed to usher Marfa’s parks into the future, Camacho said, but if the Parks Board is successful they would like to tackle larger initiatives like the transformation of idle city land into more parks, and the city takeover of county-owned Vizcaino Park.