HARLINGEN — One of the city’s most popular youth parks is nearing the end of several weeks of a makeover.
The Harlingen Soccer Complex was beginning to look a little ragged, says Armando Villela, the city’s parks superintendent.
“We had noticed that some of the parking lights were out so we did a repair to the lights,” Villela said after a parks and rec board meeting this week. “We had a contractor come in and install a couple of poles that we couldn’t get repaired.
“We also are sprucing up the islands,” he added. “We had noticed the islands were in bad shape with a lot of that rock eroding into the parking lot just causing a mess, so we removed some of that and brought in some decomposed granite and compacted it in. It’s just to make it look a little nicer.”
The soccer complex at 4515 East Harrison is a magnet for families with young players, who often play under the lights during matches on multiple fields.
The complex also has a pond with picnic shelters, a playground area, and a popular 1.2 mile walking trail.
Villela said some less visible work his crews performed at the complex involved bringing in fill dirt to level the fields, improving the irrigation system and fertilizing the turf to improve the fields’ playability.
“The granite’s done,” he said. “Right now the only things pending are the entrances. We want to do some kind of landscape, something nice that says ‘Harlingen Soccer Complex’ on it. I think that will be the last thing and once we get that in we’ll be finished.”
