By SDCN Editor
Oceanside, CA–Oceanside city officials, community leaders, and residents celebrated the renovation of a playground at Cesar Chavez Community Park with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on October 30 in the Crown Heights neighborhood.
The revitalized playground, located between Division and Grant Streets, includes new swings, picnic tables, additional benches, and the installation of a new water fountain with a water bottle filling station.
“Crown Heights needed a revitalized area where children could come together to play,” said Manuel Gonzalez, director of Oceanside Parks and Recreation. “We’re excited to create recreational opportunities that reflect the voices that we heard from the community.”
The park was one of the city of Oceanside projects approved to receive funding from a Community Development Block Grant for the Crown Heights community. The block grant program provides federal funding for projects to revitalize neighborhoods and improve communities. After the playground project received $300,000, the city conducted public outreach to better understand what the residents wanted in their neighborhood park. The city adjusted the scope of the project based on community input.
Rosa Wray, a resident of the Crown Heights community, attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony. In the beginning, she had doubts the city was less concerned about her neighborhood. When she learned the city wanted community input on the design of the playground, she was eager to participate in the community discussions.
“Surprised that we are very important to them. And that made me feel very proud and very happy that they are concerned about us,” said Rosa Wray.
The city recently completed another nearby $225,000 block grant-funded project in Crown Heights to construct accessible pedestrian sidewalk ramps and safer crosswalks.
