Glenn Coward and his daughter passed through the former Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center campus on a recent morning run.
Like many residents in Waco’s Dean Highland neighborhood, Coward imagined a trail, picnic tables and family gatherings while he strode by the property at Herring Avenue and 30th Street. The crumbling asphalt parking lot and parched grass are remnants of the hospital’s demolition in 2020.
“I think it would mean a tremendous amount for the neighborhood,” Coward said. “I think there would be a lot of people that would go there, and they’d be able to walk their dog safely, or go get a run or a walk without having to walk in the middle of the road, which is essentially what we have to do now.”
A Waco City Council vote this month has given Dean Highland Neighborhood Association leaders hope for their decade-long campaign for a city park at the seven-acre tract.
The council over the years has set aside funds for preliminary work to create a park in the neighborhood and coordinated with Baylor Scott & White for an environmental study of the Hillcrest site.
The study found groundwater pollution that posed a hurdle to the site’s development. District 4 Council Member Darius Ewing said the pollution problem was likely beyond the capacity of the city or hospital system to remediate.
Tests turned up an oily, water soluble chemical called quinoline, though water-tight layers of rock below keep the contaminant from migrating into the Trinity aquifer 600 feet under the surface, according to council documents.
On Feb. 3, the council gave preliminary approval for a “municipal setting designation,” which allows development so long as groundwater is not used on the property.
“I’m really excited that we’re taking a step in this direction of making sure a good thing, and a community benefit happens on that site,” Ewing said in a Feb. 4 interview.
Ewing’s district includes Dean Highland, and until last year he lived within blocks of the old Hillcrest hospital. The campus was mostly vacated in 2009, when Hillcrest moved to its current site on Loop 340 and Interstate 35.
The city soon afterward acquired the former Hillcrest Medical Tower and parking garage and converted them into the Waco Police Department headquarters.
The proposed environmental designation “allows for us to move forward with this without having to undertake tens … of millions of dollars of environmental work,” Ewing said.
Several steps remain before the designation is official.
Council members must approve the designation on the second of two required votes on Feb. 17 and solicit supporting resolutions from potentially affected entities: the cities of Bellmead and Woodway and the Smith Water Company. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality would approve the application.
But any progress is welcome news for members of the Dean Highland Neighborhood Association.
“We need a park primarily for all these families and all these kids, if Waco is concerned about continuing to have people move into this neighborhood,” said Scott Michael, the neighborhood association president.
Dean Highland residents are separated from the neighborhood’s two small parks by Lyle and Herring Avenue, two high-speed roads without a stop sign. Once accessible public school playgrounds and recreational facilities have been gated off for almost a decade, exacerbating the problem.
The old Hillcrest parking lot already acts as an ersatz park in lieu of better options within walking distance, said Austin Wright, a member of the neighborhood association.
“There’s families out there with kids riding bikes in the parking lot,” Wright said. “I’m pretty sure I see people training young kids to drive there, too.”
It’s not uncommon to see older residents pace loops around the tract’’s perimeter, even during the heat of summer.
Ewing said he’s well aware of what residents want from the property and counts himself among supporters of the vision.
“When I got appointed to council in 2020, it took probably 24 hours before I started fielding calls about the old Hillcrest hospital site,” Ewing said during Tuesday’s meeting.
“I would imagine we would get a presentation potentially at the June budget retreat as a capital line item for the acquisition,” Ewing told the Bridge. “We would certainly reserve a good portion of it to be a new city park. At least, that would be the direction that I would pursue with staff.”
