A long-simmering plan to build a new multi-use public park on the southeast side of Chandler has taken a significant step forward.
Members of the Chandler City Council have given their approval to the City entering into a contract with the company J2 Engineering & Environmental Design, which has offices in Phoenix, to come up with a plan for what is a 100-acre site.
The company specializes in landscape architecture, civil engineering, and hydraulic and water resources engineering, among other areas
The City Council vote comes three years after Chandler’s Parks Strategic Master Plan listed turning the property at the intersection of Val Vista Drive and Riggs Road into a park as a top priority.
That master plan envisioned a three-phase development and construction schedule for the new rectangular-shaped park at a cost of around $16 million. According to city documents, the early visions for the project included space for a dog park, amphitheater, skate park, restrooms, shade structures, and multi-use fields.
Some 10 acres of the site saw the construction nearly two decades ago of the Mesquite Groves Aquatic Center, which in the years since, with its swimming pools, interactive water features and lazy river, has turned into one of Chandler’s most popular recreation offerings.
A public input process is expected to launch later this spring, asking residents for their views on the development of the new park.
According to a release issued by the City of Chandler, the Mesquite Groves Park project will be “designed and constructed in three phases, which will be determined as part of the conceptual design phase.”
By Garry Boulard
