Fresno has $20M to build a new park in city’s core. Where should it go? | Opinion
Just like ocean liners don’t make quick turns, it will take more than a few years for Fresno to shake free from decades of disinvestment and low prioritization of parks and green spaces.
But the slow course correction is underway.
Thanks to Measure P, the half-cent city sales tax that went into effect in July 2021, Fresno now has sufficient funding to properly maintain and improve its existing parks and “an abundance of funding” to create new ones.
Even more than funding, there have been tangible improvements – with many more coming over the next 12 months.
The words “abundance of funding” was uttered by a PARCS staff member during the department’s fiscal year 2026 budget presentation Monday evening to the city’s Parks, Recreation and Arts Commission. (PARCS stands for Parks, After school, Recreation and Community Services, in case you’re wondering.)
Summer Rooks, whose title is capital projects administrator, employed the phrase to describe $19.9 million in Measure P dollars set aside to purchase land for new parks and pay for necessary improvements. Most of that money (all but $800,000) is designated for neighborhoods south of Shaw Avenue designated as “high need.”
Just as surprising to learn Fresno has nearly $20 million sitting around to develop new park space was what Rooks said next.
“It is critical for the city and the department to really strategically identify the most appropriate parcels for pursuit,” Rooks told members of the commission that helps provide public accountability for Measure P expenditures.
“With the goal of maximizing our acreage, we need to answer how we can move away from the pocket park model. Especially when we’re looking at developing within our highly developed urbanized core.”
Listening online, it was like someone dragged a needle across the record playing in my head.
Did she just say the city is looking for land on which to develop new parks of significant size within urban Fresno? With nearly $20 million to spend?
She did.
Where will the city look to build large new parks? That has yet to be determined, though there are areas of obvious need west of Highway 99.
Community input on new parks
One initial step, Rooks told the commission, is to analyze city-owned properties that could be better utilized as parks. Also available for consultation are the city’s parks master plan, specific area plans as well as a Measure P analysis that highlights green space disparities.
Rooks then suggested the city solicit resident input for potential park sites since “vacancies or vacant properties” within the city’s core “are not as readily identifiable to staff. And so it’s very helpful when we have the community identifying these properties and recommending them for acquisition.”
“By the end of this fiscal year,” she added, “we hope to not only have a comprehensive plan for acquisition but also several acquisitions underway.”
In other words, that $19.9 million is burning a hole in the city’s pocket. They want to spend it on park space, as voters intended.
New parks already in or nearing the construction phase include the still-to-be-named soccer park on Peach Avenue in southeast Fresno; Dolores Huerta Park at Dakota and Milburn; Les Kimber Park at MLK and Church; and Broadway Parque at Broadway and Elizabeth. Seven more are in the design phase, PARCS director Aaron Aguirre told the commission
What about Fresno’s existing parks, which by and large (i.e. besides Woodward) have long been a source of embarrassment for California’s fifth-largest city?
Those are getting attention, too.
During the past year, 24 capital improvement projects were completed (or will be by the end of June) including new splash pads, tot lots, shade structures, pickleball courts and the repurposing of two soccer fields into cricket pitches – a first for Fresno. Cary Park behind Fashion Fair Mall received much-needed TLC with field and landscaping improvements, new playground equipment and Little League bleachers.
But that’s only the start. Thirty-five additional projects are fully funded and expected to be completed over the next two fiscal years. That includes the new parks listed above, a yet-to-be-designed park at 11th and Tulare and a “major renovation” to Radio Park at First and Clinton.
Fresno 98th in ParkScore ranking
The recent progress has yet to make a dent in the city’s annual ParkScore rankings released this week by the Trust for Public Land, a San Francisco-based nonprofit.
Fresno continued to rank 98th in the 2025 survey of America’s largest 100 cities, the same position it held last year, ahead of only Irving, Texas. However, the city’s overall score dipped from 35.4 to 34.1.
The survey indicates Fresno continues to lag in access to green space. Sixty-six percent of residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park, below the 76% national average. And while investment levels are on the upswing, the city’s investment of $99 per person on parks in 2025 was still well below the national average of $133.
The biggest anchor weighing down Fresno’s score is its small median park size (2.2 acres) and the fact that parkland makes up only 2.5% of the city’s total acreage.
What’s the best way to goose those figures? Build a large new park, or multiple parks, within Fresno’s urban core.
That sounds like the plan. And with nearly $20 million available, the only question is where.
