New Santa Clara park in Eugene to include acres of outdoors fun, 'Spray play' water feature

Excavators and backhoes have begun scraping away at a parcel off of River Road. While the construction zone is currently little more than equipment, plots of bare soil and undisturbed meadows, come early 2025, the space will be transformed into the newest addition to Eugene’s parks and open space portfolio — the Santa Clara Community Park.

The project is being constructed in multiple phases. Phase one consists of paving 37 initial parking spaces with four being ADA spaces, installing a playground structure complete with Spray Play, Music Play and Sand Play features, a restroom building, a group shelter for events, laying down gravel and paved trails, readying a non-striped field for multiple uses and planting natural areas to line those trails.

Phase one of construction is expected to be ongoing through February of 2025 if timelines are maintained. Two parcels of land near Madison Middle School are planned to become the Santa Clara Community Park, totaling 35 acres for both lots. A bridge is also planned to be placed in September to connect trails from both portions of the park space.

Phase two is planned to include a community garden with its own parking spaces, extended parking alongside the spaces placed during phase one, a skate spot, a court sports space for basketball, pickleball and tennis, a sand volleyball court and a small shelter in addition to the group shelter anticipated from current development. Additional plans for a community center and pool are in the works for the second parcel of land.

Parks and Open Space Landscape Architect Mark Kosmos said planning for this park project has been in the works for a long time. Meetings involving the public started in 2020 at Madison Middle School to collect feedback and input from community members on what they wanted to see from their upcoming neighborhood park.

“We’re fulfilling what the community asked for,” Kosmos said.

“In fact, the 2018 System Plan identified the need for a community park and a community center in this part of town and it was pretty high on the priority list, which is why we tackled it and we started this in 2020.”

While phase one of this construction plan is funded, other plans for phase two and beyond do not have current funding programmed or a timeline for completion. Funding for phase one comes from a number of places: around $1.4 million from the passage of the 2018 Parks and Recreation Bond and Levy, around half a million dollars provided by a state grant through the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department’s Local Government Grant, around $4.8 million in park System Development Charges, around $600,000 from the city council, about $528,000 from general capital funding and a total fundraising goal of half a million dollars from the Eugene Parks Foundation.

Eugene Parks Foundation Executive Director Ariel Lissman focuses on developing what he calls “exceptional parks'' experiences through independent donations, capital funding opportunities and partnerships with the city of Eugene. He said these amenities are created with a “secret sauce” that includes three components: accessibility — both ability-wise and geographically — artistic presentation of the space and incorporating narratives.

Lissman said that with warming summers, amenities like Spray Plays are essential for communities.

“We really want to raise the bar in how we deliver that experience to people and how they experience that not only with their body but also with their mind, their soul, their heart, their eyes,” Lissman said.

“This is what makes the difference between a park that you and I, we know, we grew up in, and an exceptional park. We’re focusing on that and when we saw the plans for Santa Clara Community Park, we thought, ‘What is this thing that will take that park to the next level?’ Without a doubt, it’s the Spray Play.”

Funding is a moving target for projects like this and Lissman said the Eugene Parks Foundation works closely with the city for development to enhance areas already identified as amenity gaps within Eugene.

“We are investing in projects that otherwise would not be built. There would probably be a Santa Clara community playground but if we cannot produce the private investment, there will not be a Spray Play,” Lissman said.

“Santa Clara’s kids and families deserve, more than anyone else, they deserve the best spray play structure in Eugene. Once we’re done building this or funding this, we’ll move to Bethel to build their Spray Play.”

In addition to fundraising work for ongoing and upcoming projects, the Eugene Parks Foundation is also looking to recruit three to five board members who understand the importance of outdoor spaces and are eager to see an expanding network of exceptional park spaces across Eugene.

Even though the park construction site may currently seem like a major disturbance to the landscape, Marina Wrensch, public works engineering landscape architect, said the crew of workers on this project have planned thoughtfully in order to minimize the impact of construction on this area, as existing soils are in good condition and the team does not want them compacted by heavy machinery.

“We’re not scraping the entire area, we’re only working within where we’re actually making changes and developing. The direction to the construction document designer was to use native plant material or plant material that has adapted to the climate here in the Willamette Valley,” Wrensch said.

“The city has pretty good standards built in already to be as environmentally conscious as possible.”

Folded into that thoughtful planning comes careful consideration of how to maintain the park once it’s completed. Wrensch said parks maintenance and operations staff were brought in during the design phase so their methods of upkeep could be incorporated into the park plan.

“That's something that I really enjoy at the city of Eugene compared to the private sector,” Wrensch said.

“I get to work with the maintenance folks and operations and bring in their considerations and design something that they can take care of.”

Teams of individuals are working hard to complete the necessary work of phase one in order to serve an eagerly waiting community.

“We’re providing a really cool, awesome playground,” Kosmos said.

“It’s going to be the next fun destination for all the kids.”

Hannarose McGuinness is The Register-Guard’s growth and development reporter. Contact her at 541-844-9859 or hmcguinness@registerguard.com

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: First phase of new 35-acre Eugene park to include 'Spray Play' playground