KERRVILLE, Texas — The City of Kerrville had a master plan to reimagine Louise Hays Park. But after a second year of flood damage, they’re taking this rebuild slow.
“The road back is going to be a lot different,” said Jay Brimhall, director of Kerrville Parks and Recreation. He took over as director just a few weeks before last year’s flood.
“This place, two years in row…has been hit,” Brimhall said.
Another major flooding event has impacted this community, closing the Kerrville River Trail along the Guadalupe River.
“We’re trying to get the parks outside of the river corridor tuned up first, so that people have spaces,” Brimhall said. “And then we’ll start focusing on areas like this.”
More than a month after this year’s flood, there’s still debris. Recovery is moving much slower than last summer.
“We got back quick,” Brimhall said. “That was great, but one of the results of that is that now everything that was done is gone.”
After being closed for the last year, Guadalupe Park was set to reopen the same week as the July 16 flood. But now, that’s on hold.
“They came back down to assess the damage a few weeks ago,” Brimhall said. “Maybe a week after it happened. They’re like it’s fine.”
The surfacing of the playground still needs to be repaired before they can reopen.
Across town, there’s progress. Brimhall says Kerrville-Schreiner Park is open.
“Come and vacation here, it’s still open,” Brimhall said. “The hillside is gorgeous. Lots of mountain bike trails.”
After last summer’s flood, Louise Hays Park had only partially reopened. With heavy water damage a second time, Brimhall is thankful construction hadn’t started to revamp the park.
“We were going to put some pickleball courts down there, but if this is going to be a continual thing,” Brimhall said. “Every year, every other year — I don’t think it’s a good idea to put anything down there. I don’t like wasting public funds, wasting funds that people have donated.”
Earlier this year, the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country committed more than $9 million towards restoring the Kerrville River Trail, Guadalupe Park and Louise Hays Park.
“Places like this are going to be cleaned up, and they’ll be back opened to the public,” Brimhall said. “It’s just going to take a little more time.”
Brimhall says they are reconsidering if some park amenities are worth rebuilding in the floodplain. For now, river access is limited for safety.
“There are blessings in all of this,” Brimhall said. “And we’re trying to find them and think about things a little bit more and do what’s right for the public.”
The majority of Kerrville parks are currently open — a silver lining after another flood.
https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/san-antonio/news/2026/09/02/kerrville-parks-flood-update
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