Design Excellence: Mary Will Craig Park and John F. Burke Nature Preserve

Congratulations to the City of McKinney and the City of Farmers Branch on receiving Design Excellence Awards from TRAPS North Region. The City of McKinney was recognized for Mary Will Craig Park and the City of Farmers Branch was recognized for John F. Burke Nature Preserve.

Founded in 1946, The Texas Recreation and Park Society (TRAPS) is a nonprofit educational and professional organization whose mission is to advance the profession of parks, recreation, and leisure services in Texas. The TRAPS Design Excellence Award recognizes individuals and organizations that have rendered significant services to the Society and who have made outstanding contributions to the field of parks and recreation.

Learn more about these award-winning projects below.

Mary Will Craig Park

Dunaway provided landscape architecture, survey, civil engineering, and structural engineering services on Mary Will Craig Park. Located in the city of McKinney, this 10-acre neighborhood park experienced a complete renovation in 2023. Originally opened in 1998, this renovation project resulted in significant improvements to the park’s design and flow for a better visitor experience.

As Project Manager, Arron led the design of improvements at Mary Will Craig Park. Improvements include ballfield enhancements, skate spot, basketball court renovations with recess games, fitness stations, asphalt running track, site furnishings, new shade structures, landscape, and irrigation enhancements, and a new playground with poured-in-place surfacing, providing the city an opportunity to have a 100% ADA-accessible playground area.

The park also features a looped hike and bike trail running along Bois D ’Arc Rd and Dowell Street, providing a space for students and staff of Slaughter Elementary School to utilize. This trail, positioned North of the open play areas, offers visitors an opportunity to engage in physical activity while keeping a watchful eye on their children participating in sports or training sessions. The same looped trail also provides a similar experience as it runs along the West side of the baseball diamond, which is fenced-in for all age levels.

“Being able to partner with the City and see this project come full circle has been extremely rewarding,” explained Arron. “The impact we make on local communities is something that brings us, as Landscape Architects, joy and motivation to do it again!”

John F. Burke Nature Preserve Master Plan and Phase 1 Improvement 

In an effort to balance protecting the city’s largest remaining natural area with provision of public access and education, Farmers Branch engaged Dunaway to prepare a master plan for their 104-acre nature preserve – John F. Burke Nature Preserve. The Master Plan incorporated parking upgrades, composting restroom facilities, an amphitheater classroom, boardwalks, a pedestrian bridge, river overlooks, wildlife blinds, and a hierarchy of hard and soft surface trails that provide experiences throughout the park as well as connections to adjacent cities and the citywide regional hike and bike trail network.

As Discipline Lead, Arron Law, PLA, ASLA, explains, “John F. Burke Nature Preserve is one of those unique projects where we had the opportunity to really connect users with nature. We were able to lean on the city’s firm history of the site and bring fresh ideas that are engaging and everlasting.”

Philip Neeley, PLA, ASLA, served as Engagement Manager on the project. During the planning process, Neeley and the Dunaway team worked with City staff and a select Advisory Committee to produce an inventory and analysis of current site conditions, evaluation of benchmark projects for programming comparisons, facilitation of community meetings to gather citizen input, and presentations to City leaders to garner support for future funding and plan implementation. “Our team was excited to provide visitors with an immersive experience in the rugged Trinity River floodway environment,” explained Neeley.

Phase 1 Improvements are complete and include an upgraded entry way with city branding, enhanced wildlife blinds to observe nature, decomposed granite trail loop, composite boardwalk structures overlooking the pond, and a river overlook structure that immerses users into the tree canopy and provides ample site views upstream to the Elm Fork Trinity River.

How can we serve you?

We’re honored to see these spaces recognized by TRAPS and to have played a significant role in these fantastic projects. We recognize the importance of experiencing nature and are proud to bring long-term value to the communities we serve. Please reach out to one of our design professionals below and let us know how we can make a difference in a community near you.