A new park broke ground in southeast Fresno. Why it’s taken nearly 20 years to build

Earlier this month, the city of Fresno broke ground on what’s been long planned as a signature park for the southeast part of town.

The ceremony, attended by city officials and a wide array of community members, was a welcomed sign of actual progress on the 49-acre project — which was first proposed in 2006 and has seen various states of planning for the better part of the past two decades.

The groundbreaking went hand-in-hand with a call-out from the city to help name the project, which to this point has been generically referred to by its location on South Peach Avenue.

“This park has been a long time in the making,” says Fresno’s director of Parks and Recreation, Aaron Aguirre.

“It’s kind of a testament to the neighborhood.”

Home to agricultural research

The park is situated on a patch of land with historical ties to Central Valley agriculture.

Starting in 1916, the site served as the Bureau of Plant Industry Experimental Vineyard and became home to the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service in the area. In the 1930s, the Works Project Administration and the Public Works Administration built a residence on the property to house a single scientist.

Over the next six decades, the laboratories were birthplace for a number of grape varieties, including Flame and Crimson seedless table grapes and the Summer Muscat, a raisin grape bred to be dried on the vine, not on the ground. The site was also used for breeding new varieties of peaches and housed incubators where scientist would grow and study insect pests.

But in 1998, the USDA began work on a new $23 million facility in Parlier, and eventually abandoned the Peach Avenue site to become a “collection of run-down trailers, dusty storage sheds and fruit trees battling knee-high weeds for dominance,” according to a story in The Fresno Bee at the time.

There was some quick interest in the land.

In 2001, a group lobbying then-Gov. Gray Davis proposed the site for a 400-capacity veterans home (and golf course). The idea was unanimously supported by the city council, but it reported ultimately failed because of the bureaucracy involved in transferring the property to the state, The Bee reported.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was in office by the time the veterans home was eventually built at California and Marks avenues.

So, the land sat unused until 2006, when the National Park Service deeded it to the city, with the condition it be used for green space and recreational purposes. A year later, the city was hit with the economic recession, which left it unable to maintain its existing parks, let alone build a new one.

Other than a 3 1/2-acre community garden, a lack of funding kept anything from happening on the land for almost a decade.

At one point, the NPS suggested in a letter to the city that it should return the property.

“If the city of Fresno chooses not to fulfill its original intent to develop the property for public park and recreation use,” it wrote, “we request that you be prepared to willingly deed the property to an appropriate grantee that we approve to pursue the intended park and recreation use of the property.”

There were several attempts to turn the bulk of the property into a regional soccer complex. While they were met with some community support, they never materialized.

“There were other opportunities and attempts,” says Aguirre, who grew up on Peach and Hamilton avenues near the park site and remembers being intrigued by the scientists in white Tyvek suits he would see milling about the facilities.

“Now we’re here,” he says.

When, what to expect in Phase One

“Here” refers to phase one of the project, which includes many of the community amenities like natural and synthetic turf fields (the latter designed specifically for field hockey), plus shaded playground spaces and play structures. There will also be an exercise equipment area, restrooms and open, walkable green space with 80 different trees and 21 different shrubs, Aguirre says.

“We’re packing a lot into phase one.”

Over the next few months, people can expect to see heavy equipment in the area as crews begin grading the land and installing roadways and facilities. The park is expected to open in late 2025 or early 2026 at a cost of $11.7 million dollars paid for through a number of sources, including Measure P and American Rescue Plan Act funds, plus parking impact fees and some general fund monies, Aguirre says.

The remaining acreage, which will give the city another cricket pitch, will be developed over the coming years.

“It really is a show of a good partnership,” Aguirre says, and an example of a community staying active and engaged.

“A great effort among all parties involved.”

This story was originally published February 26, 2025 at 5:30 AM.