CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — People who visit Hazel Bazemore Park said they’ve been patient, waiting for improvements.
“If you want something nice, it’s going to take some time. So be patient,” said one visitor.
Roman Aguilar comes all the way from Alice once a month so his daughters can play and run around.
He thinks the park is nice and he wants to see more amenities, including the dog park.
“It’s just a different look to it so it makes the experience a little different,” said Aguilar.
Nueces County Pct. 1 Commissioner Robert Hernandez, who inherited this project when he took office, said it's been a work in progress.
When the project was first approved in 2020, the work was awarded to ABM Industries who subcontracted the design concept to Wheaton engineering. As work was being done, Hernandez was not happy with what he was seeing.
“I don’t agree that we should continue with this company," he said. "I would like to do away with it and we should go out for bids again."
Another engineering firm, Govind Development, was awarded the project in March and has created this new design for the proposed dog park.
The dog park would be four times bigger than what was being built by ABM Industries and the cost remains the same at $418,000.
“It’s a beautiful project a beautiful design," Hernandez said. "There’s a lot of things they added onto the design."
The proposed park will be handicapped accessible and have a sandbox, water fountains, picnic tables, benches, and a pond for the active pets to cool off.
“You can just imagine the size of dog park we’re going to have here compared to what you see over here,” Hernandez said.
That's where ABM Industries started its construction: close to the playground.
To keep children safe, Hernandez has asked Govind Development to move the dog park away from the playground and to build a six-foot fence around it.
During Friday’s Nueces County Commissioners Court meeting, they will decide when Govind Development can start construction.
If they should pay ABM Industries in full for the work they completed and what will be done with the concrete foundation they laid that is sitting untouched.
