This summer, Maldonado Park has unveiled its latest addition to help Firebaugh residents beat the heat. Located at the heart of the public space and open to the public from 5 to 7:30 p.m. weekly, the Splash Park – as it has been fittingly named – kept Firebaugh residents cool amid the July heatwave.
As part of a larger, ongoing project to revamp Maldonado Park, the installation of water jets is merely the first step in turning the public space into the hub of community and activity the city knows it can be.
City officials have eyed Maldonado Park for a facelift (or three) for the past few years, and, under the direction of city manager Ben Gallegos, Firebaugh finally acquired the funds to revamp the area and began remodeling the public space into a getaway from the summer heat.
Having opened just in time for the Fourth of July earlier this year, the Maldonado Splash Park offers parkgoers a circular area in the center of the land outfitted with pumps and spigots that release a steady stream of cool, fresh water to help folks beat the heat.
Though this most recent addition to Firebaugh’s several acres of public land may seem sudden and unexpected, getting the Splash Park funded and operational has been an endeavor that Gallegos and the City have been trying to get off the ground for some time.
Initially intended for implementation in the first two phases of a three-phase process, the Circular Splash Zone marked the first steps in a much larger revitalization project for Maldonado Park.
Like most aspects of urban development, funding was the main issue barring city officials from giving the park the treatment it deserved.
While only securing a fraction of the funds to begin the project (being granted a budget of only 3.2 million when a total of 8 million was requested), Firebaugh officials were grateful to receive any amount to start breathing new life into the space. In fact, it was this budgetary constraint that spurred the park development team into thinking of how best to use the funds to maximize the number of improvements and infrastructure to the area.
“You always want to try for more over less,” Gallegos remarks about the process of securing financial resources. “The work doesn’t stop because you didn’t get all you needed; you just start value engineering things out and scale it down when you absolutely need to.”
The third phase of the Maldonado Park revamp will take advantage of the three acres surrounding the public space, and city officials plan to add an asphalt track for runners, a soccer field, a tennis court, a basketball court, a playground and streetlamps to maximize safety and utility.
The goal with the completion of the third phase of development is to offer a safe and secure space for kids (and active adults) to meet and have access to sports equipment on weekends – though the nearby schools keep their gates open for after-school sports and activities during the week, Firebaugh community members looking to practice their lay-up on the court or hone their endurance on the track don’t have many options outside of a home gym or backyard.
When the third phase wraps up in about a year, however, Firebaugh will be able to stretch its legs and shoot as many three-pointers as it can handle.
City officials plan to prioritize maintenance on the park both during and after the final improvements have been made. Staffed by the Public Works Department and overseen by the city board, Maldonado Park and its Splash Park will be receiving a lot of care and attention in the months to come.
