When you walk around the Boerne Park Operations Campus, it looks like a typical garage and small office area – and that is by design.
Starting in 2023, the Parks and Recreation Department began asking for direct feedback from crews. The goal was simple: improve efficiency, organization, and overall functionality of the complex. But challenges remained, including finding time, working within existing budget, and maximizing staff resources.
“The accumulation of equipment and gear did not happen overnight, and crew members often shared ideas on improvements or ways we could better use their time,” Parks and Recreation Director Lissette Jimenez said. “After 20-plus years of working in this space, it was time to reimagine how we could make it work for us.”
Enter Rusty Fuller and Rudy Vega, the new Parks operations superintendent and assistant director. The pair stepped into their roles in spring 2025 and brought a fresh perspective in evaluating the efficiency of the space and how to maximize its full potential.
“This was an exciting challenge to come in on day one and find ways to work within the existing space,” Fuller said. “With the great work of my colleagues, it is safe to say we did just that.”
One of the biggest undertakings for Parks staff was incorporating two portable buildings that were previously utilized at the old City Hall and relocated to the operations facility at Northrup Park in 2020.
Over the course of a year, staff took advantage of rainy days and slower periods in their schedules to remodel the portable buildings. At times, the project was also made a top priority despite heavy workloads, recognizing there is rarely a perfect time to tackle improvements of this scale.
Jimenez understood the upgrades would quickly benefit staff by creating better workspaces and training areas while improving daily functionality.
The result included a dedicated training and break room, as well as new offices for crew leaders. The area now provides Parks crews with space to complete mandatory safety training and continuing education courses, along with a climate-controlled area for breaks and meals.
“Additionally, by creating new office spaces, we were able to return storage closets that had been used as offices back to their intended purpose,” Jimenez said.
In addition to the buildings, the team collaborated closely with the City’s Streets Department to construct a new parking area and sidewalks connecting the updated workspaces.
Another area that received renewed attention was the existing operations building. With new office areas now available, the original parks operations footprint was able to be modernized.
“It might sound simple, but once we really zeroed in, it became clear we could make a lasting impact with some straightforward changes,” Vega said.
Getting our equipment out of the elements and back inside opened up new parking capabilities and allowed us to create new workstations.”
Staff inventoried the space and identified opportunities to remove a section of fencing to prioritize parking. They also relocated a large shed to a corner of the property, allowing larger trucks and equipment to navigate the area more easily. Additionally, reorganizing how equipment is stored at the end of the day has improved safety around heavy machinery.
Two notable additions include the creation of a woodworking area and welding stations, allowing crews to handle construction and repairs in-house.
Crews have already built stands for Dickens on Main, an ADA ramp, a new scorebox for Northrup Park Field 11, and will construct several elements for the City’s first-ever dog park at Northside Community Park later this year.
Moreover, the newly freed closet space now houses all plumbing equipment used to repair drinking fountains, irrigation lines, and restrooms across the City. By consolidating and centralizing these materials, crews no longer need to search the 700-square-foot garage for various parts.
“This is just one of the many ways Team Boerne works every day to be efficient and deliberate with their time and resources,” City Manager Ben Thatcher said. “By utilizing existing resources, they completed a significant project that might have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars if we had relied on outside contractors.”
Through innovation and a commitment to continuous improvement, the Parks and Recreation team transformed a familiar space into a more efficient and forward-thinking operation, proving that meaningful progress doesn’t always require new resources, just a new perspective.
