'Frisco's Favorite Urban Legend' Is Finally Becoming Reality In The Form Of A World-Class Texas Park

For years, locals in Frisco, Texas, have spoken of the legend. Land was purchased, they murmured, and a park was promised. One day, construction workers would descend upon the 1,000-acre parcel, and the land would transform. Parents would picnic and children would play. When was all this supposed to happen? Nobody knew. Perhaps it was only a story. The property once belonged to Exide Technologies, an industrial plant that used to recycle batteries — contaminating local soil and groundwater with lead in the process. The company went bankrupt in 2012, and the city has worked to clean up the site ever since. But that was all anyone seemed to know.

Then came the announcement: Frisco City Council had approved a $35 million budget, secured a contractor, and scheduled construction for 2026. If all went well, the first new hunk of Grand Park — "Phase 1" — would open the following year. As Mayor Jeff Cheney put it in a Facebook post in 2022: "Grand Park is our favorite urban legend in Frisco. However this Fall you will finally get to begin experiencing the park as we start a first phase of trail networks through the park. More to come soon!"

This is more good news for Frisco, one of Texas' two thriving Dallas suburbs that ranked in America's top 10 safest in 2025. Known widely as "Sports City USA," Frisco boasts five stadiums, over a dozen sports organizations, and acclaimed athletic training facilities. Among other things, Frisco offers a one-of-a-kind lazy river baseball stadium experience. So it's only fitting that the city of 251,000 should reclaim a sprawling new green space, as well.

Naturally, the new Grand Park will have lawns, sports facilities, and water features. Pavilions will provide shelter and gathering spaces, and visitors can eat at picnic tables. But the City of Frisco has ambitious plans for local amenities: Grand Park is expected to have botanical gardens, an established nature center, splash pads, a dog park, a sculpture garden, and an amphitheater for outdoor performances. One architectural rendering illustrates a "wetland landing" and kayakers paddling around a pond, which is estimated to cover 5 acres. Spearheading the plans is Design Workshop, based in Colorado.

To be fair, Grand Park already exists, with a trailhead at 5001 Cotton Gin Road. The public is already welcome to explore these grounds during daylight hours (technically from 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset). If you've been salivating over these drawings, its current form (pictured above) may underwhelm you: A simple wood sign welcomes you to the undeveloped property, and a 2.2-mile dirt path winds its way through the park. This is officially known as Big Bluestem Trail, and it was a pretty big deal when it opened in 2022. For the first time, this former "potential Superfund site" was easily accessible to hikers, joggers, and nature lovers. Visitors can branch away from the trail and follow a loop around a wildflower meadow. Simple, but a major first step.

The next phase will radically develop the grounds with courts and play structures connected by a network of paved paths (pictured below). The area will transform from a quiet place to walk around to a hotspot for recreational activities. And the location, roughly in the middle of Frisco, couldn't be better.

These kinds of timetables are always a gamble, but the City of Fresno expects the new facilities at Grand Park to open in the spring of 2027, following a full year of construction. With its level ground and pentagonal shape, Grand Park is an easy-to-find block of land near several other compelling Frisco landmarks: The National Video Game Museum and the TrainTopia historic train museum are less than a mile away, and the Frisco Heritage Center is just a little beyond that.

Many visitors will arrive in Frisco by way of Dallas, the Texan megalopolis of 1.3 million people lying directly to the south. Frisco has many attractions to recommend it, even without the impending growth of Grand Park; sports fans flock here for everything from football to soccer to Banana Ball. Another major outdoor escape is Lake Lewisville, a 29,000-acre reservoir west of town that's fringed with parks.

Public transportation isn't well developed in Frisco, so you'll almost certainly have to rent a car to get around Dallas' northern suburbs. If you're visiting from elsewhere, you'll find dozens of hotels just a couple of miles southeast of Grand Park. Best of all, one Frisco hotel, Hall Park Hotel, was named among the best in the country — an upscale destination with art, shopping, and dining. Sound too good to be true? We promise it's not an urban legend.