$10.5M park in historic Fresno neighborhood opens soon. More development to follow

A $10.5 million park that spans 10 acres in southwest Fresno nears completion of its first phase of development — a significant milestone that’s expected to be followed by new housing and businesses in the coming years.

Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias said Les Kimber Park, Fresno’s newest regional park located at South Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and East Church Avenue, is expected to open in September.

At the moment, the park lacks much greenery.

And there are no signs of new residential areas or commercial space coming soon.

But Arias said primary parts of the park will be completed in the next two months, and construction will begin Monday to improve Church Avenue.

Once those publicly funded portions of the West Creek Village project are finalized, the privately funded portion of the project will commence, Arias said.

The West Creek Village has been planned as a 120-acre multi-phase, mixed-use project that will include a community park, Fresno City College’s West Fresno campus (which is already built), single-family quality homes, multi-family mixed-income housing, and approximately 323,000 square feet for medical, business, and retail.

The project could perhaps even include a museum.

“This is the first neighborhood park in about 40 years for southwest Fresno so this is huge,” Arias said. “It’s all part of a master plan for development in the area.

“Unfortunately, we (the City of Fresno) have to go first in development. We have to put all the water lines and sewage system, complete the street improvements. But once we remove those last obstacles, you’ll start to see residential and retail follow.”

Fresno’s Les Kimber Park will include many amenities

Les Kimber Park, named after the second African American to be elected to the Fresno City Council , received roughly $10 million from state funding and park impact fee venues, as well as $540,000 through Measure P funding.

The park has been under construction since February 2024 and initially was expected to open at the end of 2024.

The park landscape will include 100 trees, low water-use plantings, a walking path, irrigation, restroom, utilities infrastructure, site furnishings, and LED lighting. The City of Fresno Department of Public Works will provide long-term operations and maintenance of the park improvements.

Other features of Les Kimber Park will include a large playground area featuring an embankment slide, climbing embankment and a California bear play structure.

In addition, a trail system will connect Les Kimber Park to Fresno City College’s West Fresno campus and other areas of the West Creek Village project.

Future park development plans includes a soccer field and basketball courts, Arias said.

Arias noted a massive parking lot was intentionally left out of the park’s design, so there won’t be much nearby parking available.

“This park is meant for the neighborhood, for the many existing residents,” Arias said. “As new housing is built, the park will be close to those residents nearby, too.”

Messages left with 2500 MLK LLC/Blue Ocean Development America LLC, which heads the private sector development of West Creek Village, were not immediately returned.

But its website states that Les Kimber Park is expected to have “world-class park” amenities and be “on the scale and level” of Inspiration Park, which opened in 2015 west of Highway 99 near the intersection of Gettysburg and Hayes avenues.

The overall West Creek project has been in the works since 2014 and estimated to cost $460 million in project investments, according to the Blue Ocean Development website.

“The West Creek Village Development Project is the largest, most transformative socio-economic project in the history of Central California,” the website states. “We are currently in the process of engaging the ‘Construction Plan Design Process.’ ”

It’s unclear when housing and retail development will start, though Arias said a Starbucks is expected to be built at the West Creek Village at some point.

“For some people, Starbucks is a symbol of economic stability and a signal of revitalization,” the councilmember said.

Blue Ocean Development America LLC described the West Creek Village project as having “potential to totally catalyze and transform Southwest Fresno.”