Business View Civil Municipal - July 2023

224 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 7 large recreational area that provides facilities for community gatherings, adult, and children’s sports, including Little League Baseball. River Oaks is home to the legendary NASCAR driver, Johnny Rutherford III. Rutherford began racing modified stock cars in 1959 and he also dabbled in stock car racing, making 35 NASCAR Cup Series starts from 1963 to 1988. Rutherford won in his first start, at Daytona International Speedway driving for Smokey Yunick. This made him one of the youngest drivers ever to win a full points-paying race, as well as the only driver to date to win in their very first start in the Cup Series. On February 25th, 2020, resolution 1009-2020 changed the name of Coats Park to honor this local legend. Wooldridge Park offers a good place for kids of all ages to enjoy outside activities. Wooldridge Park, a recently updated skateboard park, is well loved by its community. “We are in the process of going through a master plan for our parks, we intend to have a new plan as to where we’re going to go for the future,” added Mr. Gregory. Part of this plan includes renovations to the River Oaks Event Center, a valuable amenity for residents of the city. The Event Center allows the community to rent a party location, take classes and go to music events. They have a bi-weekly food bank and clothes closet open to local families in need. Yearly, the Event Center hosts a haunted house visited by hundreds of people. Infrastructure upgrades and economic development River Oaks is collaborating with the state on another master plan to renovate River Oaks Boulevard, a section of Texas 183. 183 is a four- lane divided highway with commercial businesses on both sides. With the renovations still in the planning stages, the city is working to attract new businesses before the project is complete. “The state has a master plan to redo River Oaks Boulevard, which takes a long time to happen. Once it is finished it will give us a facelift,”