A sign designates the future location of the Gladys and Thomas (TB) Stewart Park on South Vine Street in Tyler. (Andrew D. Brosig/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

The City of Tyler plans to develop a new park in its system – the first in 20 years.

Last week, the Tyler City Council approved filing an application to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) for a local parks grant to develop Stewart Park.

Stewart Park will be the 29th park in the Tyler Parks system, and it will be the first park added since September 2004.

“Historically, parks have just been underfunded for a very long time,” said Leanne Robinette, Tyler’s director of parks and recreation, in May. “People are so invested in what we’re doing, and they see the difference that we’re making and they see the effort that the City of Tyler is making to make our parks a priority.”

The Parks and Recreation Department will apply for about $500,000 in grant funds to develop Stewart Park. If approved, the funds will be awarded through a matching grant program.

T.B. and Gladys Stewart in 2012 donated the nine acres, where the future park will be developed alongside Frankston Highway to Tyler. The donation included the Stewart home, which Mr. Stewart built from scratch.

Parts of the home will be salvaged to create a pavilion. A historical marker will be added, ensuring that the past is not forgotten in the development of this new park.

The property’s master plan includes becoming a trailhead for the second phase of Legacy Trail, which was funded through a grant from the Texas Department of Transportation.

At the other end of Legacy Trails Phase II, the council also authorized $69,995.89 for the purchase of new playground equipment for W.E. Winters Park, located at 900 S. Peach Ave. The purchase will include a nature-themed steel playground, stepping boulders, a nature bark log tunnel and several other surfaces.

“Twenty years from now, these kids that are having a picnic with their parents can remember,” Robinette said in a previous interview. “This is why we do what we do. We are making a difference in these people’s lives, even if it’s just a memory.”

Tyler Parks and Trails

Bergfeld Park

Children’s Park

City Park

Crescent Park

Douglas Park

Emmett J. Scott Park

Faulkner Park

Fun Forest Park

Gassaway Park

Golden Road Park

Herndon Hills Park

Hillside Park

Lindsey Park

Noble E. Young Park

Northside Park

Oak Grove Park

P.T. Cole Park

Pollard Park

Southside Park

T.R. Griffith

Tyler Rose Garden

W.E. Winters Park

Windsor Grove Park

Woldert Park

Faulkner Nature Trail

Legacy Trail

Lindsey Park Trail

Rose Rudman Trail

Windsor Grove Nature Trail