Maple Park upgrades complete, offering fitness equipment and added parking

A multiyear effort to bring improvements to Maple Park is done — completed with boulders from Deukmejian Park — and a grand reopening is slated for Tuesday.

In 2011, the park got a new 13,400-square-foot community center that has meeting rooms and a gym, while the completion of a project that got underway last November brings a slew of additional amenities.

The nearly 4-acre park now features two new picnic tables, 12 pieces of outdoor fitness equipment for adults and teens, a renovated restroom at the community center, a refurbished tennis court, the addition of 12 parking spaces and a toddler free-play area with rolling mounds and sand.

“The scope of work included integrating boulders from Deukmejian Park to improve function, safety and aesthetics of the park, replacement of site lighting with energy-efficient fixtures and the installation of a police patrol path to improve park security,” said Public Works Director Roubik Golanian.

Putting the two dozen boulders in place is part of the landscaping effort, and some of them bear engravings depicting local wildlife as a way to help get kids excited about the park.

Planning for the improvements began shortly after the community center opened to help give the aging park a new image, said Jess Duran, director of the community and parks department.

Funding for the improvements came from $779,000 worth of Community Development Block grants and $450,000 from development-impact fees.

Parks in Glendale get a major face-lift every 10 to 15 years, and next in the pipeline is Palmer Park at 610 E. Palmer Ave, Duran said.

The grand reopening of Maple Park, located at 820 E. Maple St., will be held at 10 a.m. on Tuesday.

The park’s hours are from dawn to dusk.