Funding secured for San Felipe Park

A much needed upgrade is coming to a long neglected area within the Fabens community in the form of a $400,000 grant, courtesy of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission.

Local leaders hope that the planned upgrades help bring plenty of community traffic back to the 150 acre park.

The grant money will go towards the building of a new off-highway vehicle trail for residents to enjoy.

The TPWC announced the project as part of a larger statewide plan to fund 22 motorized and non-motorized recreational trail-related projects in parks across the state.

For San Felipe Park, the upgrades will include ten miles of five-foot-wide OHV trails, a youth rider’s mile trail, new ADA-compliant restrooms, picnic shelters, signage and fencing.

“There is already a large ATV community here in El Paso,” said Precinct 3 County Commissioner Vincent Perez. “They currently use Red Sands out by Montana Vista. Those lands are not a public park. People are essentially just trespassing as they use their recreational vehicles. We intend to create a safe place that has trails that might make it a little more exciting for people to use.”

San Felipe Park is located halfway between Cattleman’s Steakhouse and I-10, just north of Fabens.

“There are a lot of parks in Texas that have things like mud pits and other things that vehicles can go through,” said Commissioner Perez. “So the first phase would be hiring somebody who has expertise in this area to make sure it is designed properly and then as it is built over time, we intend to secure additional grant funds that it is done properly.”

According to Perez, budget changes are making these types of grants and funding from other outside sources increasingly important as a revenue source to get similar future projects off the ground.