Plans are underway to construct the primary section of what is going to turn out to be a 2.5-acre park that’s devoted to showcasing Elk Grove’s wetland surroundings.
The Cosumnes Community Services District (CSD) board on April 6 authorized a $521,692 contract with Olympic Land Construction to construct the Elk Grove Nature Park’s first section this 12 months.
“I think it’s a great step in the right direction of having a nature park,” CSD Director Gil Albiani stated.
Features of the park embody a picket boardwalk that guests can use to view the wetland area, and a 5,700-square foot Nature Center constructing.
The Elk Grove Nature Park will likely be constructed behind the CSD Administration constructing at 8820 Elk Grove Blvd. The district gained possession of the park web site from Sacramento County in a 2018 settlement that had the CSD commerce its Dillard Ranch property in Wilton to the county.
This park may also neighbor Jessie Baker School’s yard space in addition to the Project R.I.D.E. Arena and the Elk Grove Adult Community Training facility.
Christine Manitta, the CSD’s senior panorama architect, famous that the park will likely be designed to have entry for guests with disabilities.
“This project aligns with the CSD’s vision of being inclusive by offering access to nature for all of the community,” she stated.
The Elk Grove Nature Park’s first section, which focuses on bettering the present wetland space on the web site in addition to constructing a concrete pathway, is scheduled to be accomplished this fall. This challenge’s following two phases that features the Nature Center are deliberate to be completed in later years. In a 2020 presentation, the CSD workers estimated that the general challenge might take two years to full.
Manitta informed the CSD board on April 6 that her workers can also be working with the Wilton Rancheria to create signage that can have info on native crops and Indigenous People’s historical past.
Since the challenge is designed to comply with the CSD’s Climate Action Plan, the CSD parks workers stated that the Elk Grove Nature Park will embody water-efficient irrigation and a “stormwater garden” system that captures water runoff from the close by parking zone.
Manitta stated the primary section of the park’s building will likely be funded by a mixture of SMUD and State of California Parks Per Capita grants in addition to greater than $307,500 in Quimby In-lieu Fees.
CSD Director Orlando Fuentes famous the total use of SMUD and state grant funding that’s supplied to native governments.
“What’s not to like about this?” he stated.
The CSD’s conceptual plans for the Elk Grove Nature Park was first offered on-line in May 2020. They confirmed illustrations of proposed options such because the wetland boardwalk, a youngsters’s play space, and backyard parts reminiscent of drought-tolerant native crops and pollinator crops that appeal to bees.
Project designer Kevin Perry of the Urban Rain Design agency famous the vegetation that’s already on the park web site.
“(There are) literally dozens of mature trees and existing wetland,” he stated in 2020.