The City of Lubbock and the nonprofit Lubbock Downtown Park Conservancy have broken ground on the Downtown Lubbock park, newly-announced as “Pickering Park.”
Plans for the park include seating and shade, public art, a stage for live events, green areas for people and their pets, a rock garden, gaming area, and dedicated food truck space.
The project was approved by Lubbock’s city council in 2021. It is privately owned and operated by its dedicated nonprofit. It has been anticipated as a way to revitalize the downtown area.
Larry Simmons has been operating businesses downtown for more than 30 years. He is the organizer of the Downtown Farmers Market as well as owner and artist with Tornado Industrial Arts.
He said he was excited by the turnout at the groundbreaking and by all the new developments coming to downtown.
“It's such a political hot potato with everybody, and it shouldn't be. We should all be happy. We should all be proud about any kind of development downtown, because it reflects good on all of us,” he explained. “And so my hope is that will ease the pressure cooker that is downtown, and it will show people that it's not always public money.”
Simmons said projects like these show that there is a support structure and legitimate investment in downtown.
This week has seen a number of new developments announced downtown.
The new Broadway Market development has been announced across from the park space. It is a multi-functional project, with plans for a food hall, office space, gaming bar, and a rooftop patio.
Meanwhile, the Jim Kimmel Center has been newly dubbed Inn Town Lofts, and is expected to have more than 50 apartments, as well as a business center and community theater area.
Brianna Brown is the business development director for the City of Lubbock. She said progress downtown can be hard to see holistically because of its size.
“Downtown Lubbock, geographically, is the same square footage as downtown Atlanta,” she explained. “So catalytic projects like this really bring the focus for our community, where you can easily see that things are happening. It was very critical as part of our Downtown Master Plan update that we create a central community gathering space, which was the vision for this park.”
She said the park has already driven the occupation of vacant spaces nearby.
Over the past ten years, Market Lubbock has generated more than $123 million in downtown Lubbock through its grant program, according to Dan Williams, president of the Downtown Tax Increment Financing Zone, or TIF.
“This has fueled small businesses to relocate, redevelopment to occur, and community driven projects across our city,” he said. “So you combine this park with everything happening in the Arts District, the coming improvements to the Depot District, the Broadway road renovation, and the amount of momentum we have going is incredible.”
Williams said the park will play a big role in improving the walkability of downtown and providing both economic and lifestyle opportunities.
The park is located at Broadway and Avenue L.
Construction is expected to begin in January and take nine to ten months, with a projected opening of the park in 2026.
