Timothy Chapman
03/06/2023
A new campground was announced during the Mayor’s annual state of the city address in February and is in early development for McAllen.
Deputy Director of Programs for McAllen Parks and Recreation Carina Jimenez listed the activities visitors of the campground site will be able to do such as kayaking and archery along with other things.
“So the amenities that we have planned for the property are docks for fishing as well as campgrounds that will allow for programming out there as well as overnight stays for say like a boy scout troop or a girl scout troop, we also have plans for a walking trail and a bike trail,” Jimenez said.
Recreation Superintendent Fidel Covarrubias said most people don’t have the time and money to go out and travel far to go camping which is why he believes bringing something locally will bring a positive impact to the community.
“Not everybody is fortunate enough to the point where they can go and drive two, three, four hours out of town and go camp for the weekend and come back… 2:47 We’re gonna have a lot of nice amenities and resources that are gonna benefit the public and just make them feel like they are immersed in nature,” Covarrubias said.”
He said it’s easy to forget you’re still in the city of McAllen when you’re walking through the nature this campground site provides due to the beautiful landscape.
“Well it’s a twenty acre property so it’s got a lot of space. On top of that it’s got a lake in the middle of it. So it was perfect, I think when they sat down and thought about ‘oh what are we going to put in here’,literally you sometimes forget hey I’m in the middle of McAllen,” Covarrubias said.”
McAllen Mayor Javier Villalobos said he thinks the campground site will be a great addition to the city.
“We think it’s kind of a unique property in the middle of McAllen you’re not gonna find something like this anymore. The city has been thinking about it for a while, since we got in there we really started questioning as much as we can a little bit of nature and making sure our quality of life which is very important to us here in McAllen keeps on improving,” Vilalobos said.
A completion date is yet to be announced but the campground site is expected to take more than a year to complete.
