Construction is expected to begin later this year on a roughly $11 million park in Thermal that will mark the first public park to be built in the eastern Coachella Valley community.
It will be on an undeveloped 9.3-acre parcel just south of Church Street and east of Olive Street, near John Kelley Elementary School and the Coachella Valley Unified School District's main offices.
The park project from Desert Recreation District gained approval from the Riverside County Board of Supervisors during its meeting this week, allowing park officials to move forward with their request for proposals from prospective contractors.
The land near the CVUSD schools and offices has long been eyed as a potential park site, said Scott Sear, Desert Recreation District’s public information officer. He said the district has owned the land for about four to five years.
“As communities grew around it with the Coachella Valley Unified School District and John Kelley Elementary School, it really started to make sense,” Sear said in an interview.
Sear said construction on the park is expected to begin sometime this fall and take about a year, putting the park on track to open in fall 2025.
The roughly $10.8 million in funding for the park is coming from a variety of sources, including from Riverside County Supervisor V. Manuel Perez’s office, developer fees, community development block grants and state-level grants.
Local officials held town hall meetings to hear from residents about the potential park, and Sear said their plans received strong support from the surrounding community.
“Parks serve as a vital community hub. ... When you go back to your core memories — I don't care what age you are — a lot of them involve a park and a special moment at a park,” Sear said. “That's why this community really sees the need for this and wants that sense of support (for) the social, emotional, physical health of the community.”
Plans for the new park come on the heels of other new recreation facilities in unincorporated communities of the eastern Coachella Valley. In 2021, the Oasis del Desierto community park opened in Oasis, replete with a basketball court, soccer field, baseball field and playground.
More recently, the Mecca Regional Sports Park opened in fall 2023, with multipurpose fields, a lighted walking path, a splash pad, multiple playgrounds, sand volleyball courts and outdoor workout stations.
Sear said the new facilities in Mecca have been very popular, with events virtually every weekend, and he expects many of those sports leagues to be offered at the Thermal park, allowing community residents to access them with less time spent driving.
The park planned in Thermal will feature a new playground, a jungle gym, a basketball court, a baseball diamond, a soccer field, picnic areas, a splash pad, a stage, shade structures, walking paths and plenty of parking.
Perez, the county supervisor, has also backed the new park in Thermal in recent years. In late 2021, when the park project won $4.5 million in state grant funding, Perez noted the parks closest to Thermal are currently in Coachella or six miles southeast in Mecca.
"These funds are a wonderful investment in the quality of life and health of our community,” Perez said at the time. "The park will be in the heart of Thermal, in close proximity to the Jerry Rummonds Senior and Community Center and the Coachella Valley Unified School District, bringing opportunities for outdoor recreation and activities for the families and children of the community."
At the board of supervisors meeting Tuesday, Perez said the project has been needed "since I can remember." He also noted the recent parks built in Mecca and Oasis, adding he hopes to see new ones in Thousand Palms and Bermuda Dunes sometime in the future.
"I’d like to see as many parks as possible for our families out in the region," Perez said.