Van Heekpark
At the end of his life Gerrit Jan van Heek, owner of a textile factory, decided to give a park to the city. Just as his brother did before him. Finished in 1917, the park and 3 houses were handed to the city in 1918. The donation document stated some goals for the park. It should give the people a place to relax, a place to sport and a kids playground.The park houses few sport accommodations such as tennis, korfball and jue de boule. A big oval field is often used by groups of people to play soccer or other sports. The adjoining Lochemsbleekpark, an former estate, became part of the Van Heekpark in 1929. In the 1980s the separation between both parks completely disappeared.
Almost every district in Enschede has one or more parks under municipal maintenance as-well as some beautiful country estates around the city. In many cases it is a hesitance of the textile industries. The popular Volkspark was designed for the 19th century workers to relax and is now home of the annual fun-fairs and other cultural events. The Ledeboerpark and others were originally developed as residence or country estate or the wealthy ones.