Cove Recreation Area getting playground

The Orange City Council has taken a big step in the development of the Cove Recreation Area by approving $77,480 for the playground equipment.

The recreation area is along DuPont Drive and was once the site of the old Cove School. The school had been sold to private owners and had been vacant for nearly 30 years. The city bought the property with the specific goal of tearing down the dilapidated school and turning the land into a park.

The plans for development include the playground and a walking trail, along with benches and other features. A sign has been installed and the playground should be up soon.

The contract for the playground is going to Recreation Equipment Company and the city got the bid from the regional "buy board" cooperative. The money has been budgeted from the Community Development Block Grant funds the city receives from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Dow Chemical, which acquired the old DuPont Sabine River Works, the first petrochemical plant in Orange, is helping the city with grants for the recreation area.

Other recreational-related contracts the council has awarded include nearly $190,000 to pave the parking lot at Lions Den Park. The city received that only bid from Gulf Coast, a CRH Company.

More development includes the legal process for $500,000 in economic development grants that have been previously approved. The grants are going to BCS Orange which will use $300,000 for the infrastructure to build a new Whataburger restaurant at 3124 16th Street.

The company is also developing the White Water Express Car Wash next door at 3122 16th Street. The car wash is getting a $200,000 infrastructure grant. The site is in the area near Starbucks and Chick-fil-A off Interstate 10.

Both grants were approved on first reading and will need a second reading before becoming official.

The grants from the city's Economic Development Corporation are financed by a half-cent sales tax approved by voters. The grant money is reimbursed to the company after it presents the bills for work completed.

The council approved a contract with Allco LLC for a $2.5 million project to renovate the Meeks Drive water plant.

The council in a second and final reading approved new regulations for large trucks and heavy loads traveling through to the construction project for the $8.5 billion Golden Triangle Polymers plant. The city is trying to get the state legislature to allow city police to enforce load and size limits.