SOLEDAD — A new park is under consideration for the City of Soledad that brought out residents and community members June 22 to Gallardo Park to brainstorm where amenities would be located.
The meeting is part of a series of workshops to gain public input on the park. Among the items residents were said to have wanted in the park were a dog park, grass area, shady structures, trees, playground and a splash park.
The park is located behind the future Hartnell College campus and will be about 4 acres. Saturday’s meeting was the third workshop, with another scheduled for July 2 at 4 p.m. at South County YMCA.
Other meetings will be held July 9 at 5:30 p.m. and July 17 at 6:30 p.m., both at the Soledad City Hall.
“The 17th of July is our last meeting but is going to be more of a wrap-up meeting and having a final design for the grant due Aug. 5,” said Public Relations Specialist Jennifer Russell.
The park will be funded through a Proposition 68 grant, a statewide parks program.
For those who are unable to attend the workshop meetings, there is an email address, co***************@ci***********.com, that will accept writing ideas for the park due July 6.
In charge of designing the landscape for the park is Larry Foster of BFS Landscape Architects.
Soledad Youth Council Members Tamara Castillo and Laura Rivera came to the workshop to be involved in the planning for the park and to represent the newly formed Youth Council.
“I know there’s not a lot of places where children can play safely,” Castillo said. “I did want to see more picnic areas because I know there’s not many around and my family loves picnics, so they would want a place like this.”
Rivera wanted to feel more included in her community by contributing to making a change.
