Community Park Project Dedicated

Amid a bucolic backdrop of oak tree-studded hills, nature trails and a cascading waterfall, community leaders and Oak Park residents gathered Saturday for a public dedication of Oak Canyon Community Park.

The event marked completion of the second phase of development at the sprawling 38-acre park.

“Great care was taken to meld the man-made amenities with the natural beauty of the surrounding area,” said Steve Iceland, a board director for the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District. “An excellent job has been done minimizing the intrusion into the open space areas.”

The event attracted about 200 area residents who were treated to coffee and doughnuts under a new gazebo that overlooks two ponds fed by Medea Creek. After the morning ceremony, attended by park district officials and local politicians, residents scattered to enjoy the park’s features.

The $1.2-million project includes several meandering walkways with scenic lookouts, two smallish piers jutting into the ponds, two waterfall bridges, picnic tables, barbecue grills and lighting.

While sipping coffee in the shade of the gazebo, Lamar Carithers of Oak Park said he was pleased with the finished product.

“I started walking through this very area long before the construction started,” said Carithers, who was joined by his wife, Shigeko. “I was expecting there to be much more grooming, so I’m very pleased to see the area left mostly in a natural state.”

The park’s “natural state” poses new maintenance tasks for the park district, said Ed Hayduk, who oversees planning and development for the district.

“Now is the critical period because we have to learn how to maintain it,” Hayduk said.

“We’re expecting the park to have a self-supporting ecosystem so the idea is that there will be medium to low maintenance.”

Future construction plans include a 5,000-square-foot community center, nature center and a botanic garden.

“It’s just important we didn’t end up with another commercial development,” said Laura Acosta, who sat at a shiny new picnic table with her husband James and their 1-year-old son, James Jr. “This park is important for the kids,” she said.