By LYNETTE SOWELL
Cove Leader-Press
Copperas Cove is moving forward with the development of one of the city’s newest parks – Rhode Park – and has future sights set on making it an adaptive use park.
Skyline Flats, when it was developed, also included dedicated park land. The park was named after Edgar H. Rhode. He served in multiple civic organizations locally to include the Copperas Cove Chamber of Commerce, AUSA Central Texas Chapter, Copperas Cove Exchange Club, and the Coryell County Red Cross.
Rhode was also a past mayor and city council member. Rhode, a veteran of the United States Army, was a founding member of the Military Affairs Committee and was credited for beginning the Military Affairs Dinners in his backyard in the early 1950’s.
The City’s 2020 Parks Master Plan recommended improvements to Rhode Park to include adaptive use sports fields, adaptive use playscape, and other basic park amenities.
During last year’s City Council Retreat, there was a presentation for the vision of the park, and city staff asked that a consultant be brought in to assist staff and the Friends of the Park with the design, launch and guide a comprehensive capital fundraising campaign.
A total of $100,000 was included in the fiscal year 2025-2026 operating budget to fund an outside consultant.
The city received a proposal from Edge of Your Seat Consulting in February. The consultant’s services include a Feasibility Study and Readiness Assessment, Systems and Infrastructure Design, Messaging and Case Development, Stakeholder Alignment and Leadership Engagement, Prospect Identification and Donor Strategy.
Pam Owens with Edge Of Your Seat Consulting was at the meeting and shared about what her firm will do.
“We are going to use and look at anything that’s already been done to help us moving forward on this project, and we will continue to do that. Our firm has always been community based, so we don’t like surprises, unless it’s a vacation to Tahiti,” she said. “And so with that said, we will absolutely involve the community the whole way through. We don’t move until we feel like we really understand the community needs and the community wants and the ideas. So, with all ideas in we will continue to do that from the beginning of the project to the last dollar is raised.”
The cost of the services the firm will provide over an 18-month timeframe is $100,000.
During the time period leading up to the city council’s approval of the $100,000 agreement with Edge of Your Seat Consulting, a number of vendors have donated their time at no cost to the City to include CEI Engineering (services valued at $88,000), Cutright & Prihoda Architects ($63,800), Mammoth Sports Construction ($21,500) Gallagher Construction Management ($14,000), Kompan Playgrounds ($10,500), Water Play Solutions Corp. ($9,000), Chris Alford Graphic Designs, and Cinemagic.
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