De Anza Park Receives Award for Planning

The city of Calabasas received a Park Planning Award from the California Park and Recreation Society for the construction of the Juan Bautista de Anza Park on Lost Hills Road, city officials said. The 8-acre park is the first major recreation facility built by the young city, making the award even more significant to the staff, said Recreation Supervisor Marilyn Fisher.

“Winning this means we did a great job,” she said.

The society, made up of recreation leaders across the state, gives awards in several categories, including the size of the city and type of facility. Fisher said De Anza Park was chosen for its designers’ attention to detail.

“Most facilities built now are built as least expensively as possible, as quickly as possible, and they move on,” she said. “Everything in the park was built with nature in mind.”

The park features three playground areas, with age-appropriate equipment for toddlers to teens, and a multiuse game court. It is surrounded by the Santa Monica Mountains and was meant to be a starting point for hikers using several trails through the hills.

The $1.8-million facility, which opened last October, is home to the city’s recreation division of the Community Services Department.

Classes and recreational programs are offered in the “oval office,” a nickname for the park’s round office building.