SAN CLEMENTE : City Takes Steps to Create 2 Parks

City leaders have moved forward with plans to build two parks that have been in the planning stages for several years.

The City Council recently approved a $750,280 contract with J.C. Baldwin Construction Co. to build the seven-acre Rancho San Clemente Park, the city’s first priority. The company’s bid was the lowest of seven submitted.

The total cost of the project, including city design and inspection fees, is about $950,000, a savings of about $189,000 over the $1.1 million the city initially set aside for the park.

The park, to be located at Calle Aguila and Calle Pastadero in the Rancho San Clemente development, will feature a gazebo, playground equipment, picnic tables, barbecue grills and a fully automated irrigation system.

The council also invited bids for a four-acre neighborhood park for the inland Marblehead community.

The park site is at Avenida Vista Hermosa and Via Turqueza, and city officials have set aside about $761,000 for the project.

Both parks are being funded through development fees, officials said. Both are expected to be open by next summer.

“I think everybody in the community has anxiously been awaiting this,” City Manager Michael W. Parness said. “We’re pleased to be proceeding with them this year.”