City of Kyle Celebrates Mary Kyle Hartson Park Ribbon Cutting & Santa’s Arrival

DATE/TIME: Wednesday, Dec. 1 from 4:30 - 9 p.m.   

LOCATION: Mary Kyle Hartson Park, 101 S. Burleson St. 

WEBSITE: CityofKyle.com/MKH 

KYLE, TEXAS – On Wednesday, Dec. 1, the City of Kyle held the Mary Kyle Hartson Park Ribbon Cutting and Santa's Arrival.  

Over 4,000 members of the community attended the event to celebrate the grand reopening of the Mary Kyle Hartson Park and the official kick off to the holidays in Kyle.  

The event featured remarks by Mayor Pro Tem Rick Koch, Council Member Robert Rizo and Council Member Dex Ellison as well as special performances by Kyle Elementary, Chapa Middle School, the Hays CISD Honors Choir, Simon Middle School, Wallace Middle School, Johnson High School, Hays High School and Lehman High School.  

Since 1999, the city has invited Santa to Mary Kyle Hartson Park to take part in the downtown tree lighting event. But this year in addition to the lights, holiday music and vendors, residents celebrated the reopening of the Mary Kyle Hartson Park after several months of construction to add improvements — including improved ADA access, a 20-foot-wide promenade, expanded seating areas, and a playground. 

“As a lifelong resident of Kyle, I have waited a long time to see this park be upgraded, and words cannot express right now the joy I feel seeing this project come to fruition,” Council Member Robert Rizo said. “The upgrades to the Mary Kyle Hartson Park are the first project in this area, but not the last. We are creating a path to bring more families and businesses to this area, and this is the first step along the way.”  

The Mary Kyle Hartson Park improvements were funded through settlement funds paid to the City of Kyle by Kinder Morgan under the 2019 settlement agreement between the City of Kyle and the Permian Highway Pipeline, LLC, and Kinder Morgan Texas Pipeline, LLC.   

For more information about the Mary Kyle Hartson Park Ribbon Cutting and Santa’s Arrival, go to CityofKyle.com/MKH.     

The Kyle Parks and Recreation Department is keeping the festivities going throughout the month of December with the 25 Days of Christmas that will feature nightly Christmas lights along with holiday music, vendors, Santa photo opportunities and more at Mary Kyle Hartson Park. Check out the full schedule of events for the 25 Days of Christmas at www.cityofkyle.com/recreation/december-events.  

The Kyle Police Department and Kyle Parks and Recreation Department are partnering to provide Santa Rides in Kyle. Children will have the opportunity to wave and see Santa as he rides through the City of Kyle visiting designated neighborhoods from Dec. 13-15. For route and location details, go to www.cityofkyle.com/recreation/santa-rides-kyle.