AGOURA HILLS : Builders’ Bids Being Taken for New Park

Bids are being accepted for construction of a new park that includes a regional equestrian facility, said City Council member Fran Pavley, who helped spearhead the drive to build the 10-acre park.

“People have been asking, ‘When is this park going to be built?’ ” she said. “Now I have something to tell them.”

The City Council voted last week to take bids on construction of the first phase of the park, which will be located between Chesebro Road, Colodny Drive and Driver Avenue. Bids will be opened by the city clerk on Sept. 14.

The facility will replace a 2.75-acre park down the street that was built by the county and taken over by the city when it was incorporated in 1982.

The city traded the land from the old park to Chesebro Development Group for nine acres on which the new park is to be built, said Audrey Brown, director of community services. The city already owned one acre at the new site.

Chesebro Development Group agreed to the swap, she said, because the 2.75 acres are not prone to flooding.

The equestrian facility takes priority because a $600,000 grant from the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy stipulates that an equestrian center be built with the money, Brown said. Additional funds will come from money raised under the Los Angeles County Park Bond Act.

So far, funding has been obtained for the land, the equestrian center, a baseball field and a children’s playground, she said. Yet to be funded are a full-size outdoor basketball court and a 1,500-square-foot recreation building.

City officials say no city general fund money will be used to build the park and that all funding will be from grants.

Under the plans, the equestrian center would be free and open to users from the surrounding region. The center will be near a portion of the Zuma Ridge Trail, an equestrian trail running through the county.

Pavley said the land is already being used by a 4-H group in old Agoura, which has built a makeshift ring there until the equestrian center is completed.