The large covered picnic structure which has been the scene of countless Christmas festivals and family and community gatherings will disappear soon as parts of Smyrna Park undergo a multi-million-dollar rehabilitation.
McFadden Construction Inc. was the selected bidder on the work which starts sometime this week or next and continues until its completion sometime between March and May 1, 2024. A 10 percent contingency brings the total contract to $3.23 million. Most of the project is being funded by a Clean California Local Grant Program (CCLGP) grant administered by Caltrans. The project will also use $1.3 million of federal ARPA funds given to the city.
Ceres City Engineer Kevin Waugh said a temporary fence is going up around the sites that will be under construction. Most of the immediate activity will center on the Lions Club’s picnic shelter and the parking lot off of Fowler Road, both which are being removed and replaced.
The old restroom of masonry block near the children’s play area will also be razed.
In place of the Lions Club picnic shelter will be a new parking lot intended to allow for safer pedestrian movement.
Remaining open will be George Costa Fields, the children’s play area, the new park restroom and the parking lot off of Rose Avenue.
The skate park will reopen after murals have been added to stop the graffiti, said Waugh.
One of the biggest changes will be the demolition of the large picnic shelter built by the Ceres Lions Club along Fowler Road and using that space for a new parking lot. Two separate covered pavilion areas will be constructed in a new plaza located where the existing Fowler Road parking lot is.
“We’re actually substituting that big one with two equal-sized ones … so we can rent it out to more families,” said Waugh.
One will be covered by a similar metal structure while the other will be covered with sail cloth shade structures.
Waugh said the Lions Club hopes the city can salvage a four-foot by five-foot remnant of the concrete floor of the picnic shelter for a future plaque in memory of the late Lions Club member Rocky Fisher who worked tirelessly on the project 30 years ago. The club wants to use a remnant of the concrete since Fisher was instrumental in the project’s labor, said Waugh.
“He supposedly stayed up all night long by himself and he finished that slab 30 something years ago,” said Waugh.
When considering where to spend the grant funds, Smyrna Park was determined to be in the highest need for improvement of all Ceres parks based on greatest community use, age of facilities, the high volume of vandalism and graffiti, security concerns and increased maintenance costs. Waugh said many of the park’s features cannot be used because of safety or maintenance issues. The park also doesn’t have enough pathways and covered picnic areas. The city designed new improvements based on community input.
The Rose Avenue parking lot will remain but there will be improved sidewalks built to and from it, as well as the installation of bicycle racks.
“Basically what happened is everybody’s just creating their own paths through the park,” said Waugh, “and we’re trying to utilize the natural flow but also make it better suited to people with wheelchairs so they could enjoy the park more. So we’re going to be providing pathways throughout the park.”
The project calls for some trees to be removed and 100 trees to be planted along with drought tolerant landscaping. Architectural fencing, walkways with ramps for the disabled, new shade structures, more tables with barbecue pits and new trash enclosures are all part of the makeover.
Waugh wanted to include a rehabilitation of the children’s playground area but funding wasn’t immediately available.
“I want to do a portion of it,” said Waugh. “The whole playground equipment is in pretty good shape but we found some pieces that are broken so we’re going to put out an RFP (Request for Proposals) to add a few new items to it.”
Once the city makes room at its Railroad Avenue corporation yard after shifting water operations to a new building at 1921 Rockefeller Drive, Waugh would like to see the city yard inside Smyrna Park abandoned and removed and used for pickle ball courts.
“They (the Lions Club) wanted to pledge and do a project for the city and they’re talking about possibly doing pickleball courts in that footprint of the corp yard. I want to work with the Lions Club to see how we can work together in partnership to provide some pickleball to allow that whole regional park to just be a gem for the whole Valley. I’m excited about this.”
