Santa Clarita Dedicates Biggest Park

The largest and most eagerly anticipated park in the Santa Clarita Valley was dedicated Saturday during a ceremony that at times was drowned out by the roar of blustery winds and the sounds of children who couldn’t wait to get on the new playground equipment.

Santa Clarita officials, along with state Assemblywoman Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley), praised the 17-acre Canyon Country Park as a much-needed facility that demonstrated the City Council’s commitment to providing quality services to residents.

“When we became a city in 1987, we surveyed people on what they wanted to see most in Santa Clarita, and parks came in second to roads,” Mayor Jo Anne Darcy said. “This has been a long time coming, but this is really a big move and a great day for us. It’s the first major capital project we’ve done.”

Santa Clarita Planning Commissioner Louis E. Brathwaite said: “This is just the beginning of something big. We have plans for a lot of other parks, and we’re going to have equestrian trails to connect all of them.”

More than 600 people watched as Darcy cut a ribbon stretched across the playground of the park, which is on a hill above the 17600 block of West Soledad Canyon Boulevard. Traffic from the nearby Antelope Valley Freeway combined with the strong winds to drown out some of the speeches.

Along with a playground and community center, the $2.5-million park has a softball and soccer field, a path for walking and jogging and a fitness course. Parks and recreation officials said they plan to spend another $2 million in coming years on a pool, two tennis courts, three handball courts and a basketball court.

After the ceremony, the crowd toured the newly constructed community center. A brass ensemble played “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” as kids and their parents feasted on hot dogs and hamburgers.

Canyon Country parents had long complained that they didn’t have any parks to go to in an area burgeoning with new houses. In fact, the tiny playground at a local McDonald’s restaurant had served as a popular surrogate park for preschoolers.

Some in the city had complained that Los Angeles County had dragged its feet about adding parks to the fast-growing region before it became incorporated as a city. They said the county was too casual about collecting fees from developers that would have paid for new parks and that the city accomplished in two years what the county couldn’t do in 10 years.

But John Weber, assistant director of the county Parks and Recreation Department, said the county didn’t start planning the park until 1985. When Santa Clarita became a city, all plans and $1.2 million in fees were turned over from the county to the city.

“I don’t think the county dragged its feet at all,” Darcy said. “We’re just glad we were able to get this done so fast.”

The city of Santa Clarita raised the remainder of the funding through state grants, donations and other contributions, authorities said.

“I’m just glad it’s here,” said Ellen Stuart, a resident who held her infant daughter as she admired the park. “It took a while, but it’s going to be here for generations.”