NATIONAL CITY TO OPEN $1.4 MILLION DOLLAR ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY RECREATIONAL FIELD WITH GRANT FUNDING
National City will unveil the newest enhancements to El Toyon Park with a “Kick-Off Ceremony” on Tuesday, June 21, 2011 beginning at 1:00pm, 2005 East 4th Street.
The multi-use field will accommodate soccer-league play as well as football. Additional improvements include new fencing, gates and a decomposed granite walking path. There is a new picnic area and National City’s first dog park that has areas for both small and large dogs.
State of the art improvements to El Toyon Park were made possible by funding from the County of San Diego through the Office of Supervisor Greg Cox and through the Community Development Block Grant program along with City capital improvement funding totaling $1.4 million.
Construction of the field began in November of 2010 and will be completed this month. The field is a regulation-size field with a synthetic turf playing surface. The environmentally-friendly design will save over 1.5 million gallons of water a year over the life of the playing surface. It also allows for three times the amount of programming time over a natural turf field.
“This project highlights partnerships and the City Council’s commitment to provide the best public facilities for our residents, and follows our beautiful library, fire station and award-winning Education Village,” said Mayor Ron Morrison.
“One of the County’s top priorities is to get our children outside to play and exercise and this field will provide families with an opportunity to do that,” said County Supervisor Greg Cox. “We are fortunate that the County is able to reinvest in important neighborhood projects like El Toyon Park.”
“We are excited to hear that National City has completed the improvements to El Toyon Park through the use of Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant funds. Activities like these have such a tremendous positive impact on the lives of people in our communities,” said William Vasquez; HUD Community Planning and Development Field Office Director.
“The youth of our city have asked for safe, dedicated facilities where they can enjoy their respective sports, and we are here to deliver,” added Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Chairman James Grier.
