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LEWISVILLE — Mayor Mike Horn was at the center of the show on Saturday during the ribbon cutting for the town’s new amphitheater, although the long-serving mayor made sure to shout out all the people who made the project possible as well.

“Certainly, today is special for me. But, all that we have accomplished, those things that make us the community that we are today, would not have been possible without so many others who, over the years, have shared a common vision for our future and had the great courage and perseverance to work together to get it done,” said Horn.

The Mike Horn Amphitheater is located on the Jack Warren Park along with the Mary Alice Warren Community Center, with all of that being made possible by a 30-acre donation of land by Mary Alice Warren.

“We wouldn’t be able to have it if Mary Alice Warren hadn’t given us the land. Thirty acres in the heart of Lewisville, prime development land, and she says ‘I’d like the people of Lewisville to have it,’” said Horn.

The amphitheater was showcased on Saturday along with an expanded nature trail as well as a new 18-hole “Ace Place” disc golf course.

“I’ve talked a lot about building communities over the whole time that I’ve been enrolled with the town, but you can’t build communities unless you have places where the community can come together. So Jack Warren Park, the new amphitheater and disc golf course and nature trails, Mary Alice Warren Community Center, Shallowford Square, they’re all places that are key to building community in Lewisville,” said Horn.

The 33-year Lewisville resident Horn has served on the town council for 31 of those years, including six terms as mayor. He said that over his three decades, every council member and former mayor he has worked with has had a common thread.

“When you go to other places and you mention you’re from Lewisville, they say ‘oh, what a beautiful town you have. I wish we could live there.’ It just is one of those things that over the course of 30 years, every council member, every mayor has been committed to the fact that we want to maintain this small town character that we have. So, what we have is not the accomplishment of one, but the accomplishment of many,” said Horn.

The amphitheater and other projects were made possible by a Parks and Recreation Trust Fund grant from the state. The projects have been in the works for years, with the town applying for the grant in 2022 and officially beginning work on the projects in 2024.

“If it weren’t for the many town council members over the years, the volunteers, the staff and, more importantly, our residents of this great town, this space may have looked quite different. Jack Warren Park would be just a park, but it’s so much more than that. It is a gathering space, it is where friends and neighbors meet, where children play, where outside is enjoyed in so many different ways and it’s one of the remarkable symbols of the town of Lewisville that we all get to enjoy,” said Town Manager Stacy Tolbert.