A crowd gathered Tuesday in Valencia to help the city unveil its tallest public park slide, part of a $7.8 million renovation intended to make the park more accessible and give one of the city’s oldest parks a bit of an upgrade.
At Old Orchard Park, in addition to the 14-foot, 5-inch slide, shades and a futsal court, the re-imagining includes new play amenities, like a rock-climbing feature and a turf hill children slid down on cardboard boxes, according to Katie Knybel, the city’s project manager for the park.
“We wanted just kind of a natural element,” Knybel said after the ribbon-cutting. “We wanted natural colors, natural features, but also with some fun pops of color, was the goal. And then we wanted to keep the original character of the building, but add some architectural elements to it.”
Knybel described the renovation process, which began in earnest in 2022, as a collaboration between city staff and Pacific Coast Land Design, which was awarded a $300,000 design contract for the renovations in 2023.
First built in 1968, the park had been eyed by the city for renovations for the past decade. The city initially chose Pacific Land in 2014 to lead the community-engagement process on the park, which also was supported by several community meetings.
“Anything the city gets involved in, our mission is to do it first-class for the entire community,” Mayor Bill Miranda said, adding he was impressed by the effort to make it more accessible. “And we have a playground that’s for use, for everybody, including special needs people, which is what the city is trying to do with all our parks.”
While the neighboring Old Orchard Elementary School was in session Tuesday for the 9 a.m. ribbon cutting, there were dozens of children playing on the equipment, which brought a smile to Parks Commissioner Peggy Stabile.
“I’m thrilled to see this park rebuilt and modernized, and I’m thrilled to see the number of families that are already here for this grand opening at 9 this morning,” she said, adding she has really fond memories of playing with her grandchildren on the nearby playground. “I cannot tell you how many times we were at this park. It was home for them, and I only wish they were little again to enjoy it the way it is today.”
Lance O’Keefe, recreation and community services manager for the city, said there are plenty more plans for parks in the pipeline, mentioning also the Saugus bike park that’s coming in December or January, depending on how the weather might impact construction.
David March Park also is scheduled for reopening in January, with the city putting millions into that upgrade as well. Begonias Lane Park in the Shadow Pines neighborhood of Canyon Country, which has 1991 equipment on the playground, was identified in last year’s budget for replacement.
Old Orchard Park is located at 25023 Avenida Rotella.
