Comments in this blog are my personal opinion and may or may not reflect an adopted position of the city of Glendale and its city council.
As you may, or may not be aware, I have been working hard to make Heroes Park Lake a reality. I am pleased to share this first rendering of Heroes Park Lake to be located on the east side of 83rd Avenue just north of Bethany Home Road at Heroes Regional Park. This rendering shows the position and size of the lake (approximately 5 acres) but it does not show ‘the bells and whistles’ that will be incorporated. Since it will be a fishing lake there will be a few fishing piers, a 20’ foot fountain, several shade structures, benches and the planting of larger trees (none of which is depicted in this rendering).
I am so excited and pleased to be able to finally announce that this lake is definitely coming to the park and soon. There are a lot of moving parts that complicated this project including coordination with Salt River Project. Final details on the amenities are still to be determined and finalized. The latest schedule is that work will begin in the first quarter of this coming year, around this coming March or April.
I thank all city personnel that will make this project a reality. If I omit some names, please accept my apology. Thanks to City Manager Kevin Phelps, Assistant City Mangers Jack Friedline (technical) and Vicki Rios (financing), Don Bessler, Special Projects Engineering and Trevor Ebersole, Director of Transportation and Streets (includes engineering). Many more were involved. My thanks also goes to the entire City Council. Without their approval this project would never have occurred. I appreciate their recognition of and commitment to fulfilling the city’s promise to complete Heroes Park. My thanks to every Yucca district resident for your patience. You have had to wait over 20 years to see this park completed. I believe the lake is just the beginning of the road to placing all elements within this park.
© Joyce Clark, 2020
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That will be a nice addition to a project which has been delayed for way too long. When we purchased our home 22 years ago we were told that the park would be fully developed including a recreation center. To date the improvements have been mostly the addition of the new library which doesn’t seem to draw many visitors and an annoying skate board facility which attracts a lot of rude teenagers who litter the area with their trash and vandalize the facilities. Can you tell me if the rec center will ever actually be built? Maybe some day if the city stops spending so much of it’s resources on Westgate and spending millions of dollars on baseball fields located in the city of Phoenix?
Robert, the Rec Center, library expansion and sports fields will be built.
Splendid. Good to know.
Congratulations Councilman Clark You have worked a long time for this project. Thank you!
Congratulations
Your constituents and the City of Glendale are fortunate to have such a hard working, tenacious council person. You don’t give up! Great Job!!!
Thanks Joyce! I know you have worked tirelessly for many years to make this happen. It’s going to be a great addition and a fun place to enjoy!
Thanks Joyce,Mayor and Council for all your efforts to get the lake in. Right now the brown weeds is a fire ready to happen anytime and is ugly. Has anyone ever asked the cardinals or diamondbacks if they would like to donate a ballfield or two? Also maybe a Go Fund to raise money from the community.
My neighbors and I will be so happy when you have the groundbreaking ceremony.
I would love to see our tax money go toward cleaning up dilapidated areas, helping the homeless, street repairs, assisting families with food…maybe helping with the drug and homeless issues at the lake that already exists just a few miles down the road! This is not a prudent use of funds when so much of our city is so run down.
That’s fine but we have been promised a complete rec center at Heroes Park for the past 22 years and this area of Glendale has been treated like the bastard stepchild for that entire time. At least the lake is a start to completing some amenities. Yes, street repair is essential along with the other infrastructure issues, but it is not the job of the taxpayers to rebuild the dilapidated areas and feed, house, and clothe everyone. There are numerous non-profit organizations who are engaged in those efforts and which do a far better job than government agencies where the money usually gets doled out to contractors who are well connected cronies of elected officials. And, you’re never going to fix the drug and homeless issues until there has been a complete makeover of our mental health system including reopening care facilities with the ability to forcibly commit and treat patients rather than handing them a bottle of pills and pushing them out the door. Without that, you’re pouring money down a rat hole. If you really want to complain about the waste of tax dollars maybe you should start with the $50,000,000.00 that was spent to build ballparks in the city of Phoenix. And maybe all the money which has been spent on developing Westgate and trying to please the worthless Coyotes who keep clamoring for a newer and better facility while refusing to enter in to and honor a long term agreement.
1. I don’t pay taxes in Phoenix, I pay taxes in Glendale, so I should have a say regarding the spending of that money. 2. Creating this lake without dealing with these issues is simply creating a new lake for the homeless and drug addicts like the people who basically reside at Chicken Park (as I has been known my entire life) at 59th and Bethany a new, larger area to take over. 3. Once the school at 75th and Bethany is closed next year and the Systems of Care facility is opened for the homeless and indigent, the influx is going to increase in the area and the money spent here will likely not be as well spent as we would like. Just because something has been planned for a long time does not make it a wise, nor prudent, idea.
Perhaps I was not as clear as I intended to be with regard to the ballparks constructed in the city of Phoenix. They were built and funded by the city of Glendale but outside of our city limits in the city of Phoenix. I think we are probably in agreement on many issues. As to the closing of the school on Bethany and conversion to a homeless facility, can you provide some additional information? This is the first I have heard about it. Is it an actual plan in progress or just speculation? If true, who is behind it? Joyce, can you shed any light on this? If true, why hasn’t the Glendale City Council brought it to the attention of the area residents?
Robert, I did a blog several months ago about the Glendale Elementary school District‘s plans to close several schools including coyote Ridge at 75th Ave and Bethany home Road. The city Council has no authority with regard to the schools in Glendale Whether they be elementary, middle or high schools. Each school district has a board which makes decisions for the schools within their school district.
Joyce, thanks for responding. I’m curious to know if there is any substance to Sharyn’s comment about it being converted to a homeless shelter or if it was just speculation. Surely a radical change of use like that, which could have a dramatic effect on the surrounding residential neighborhoods, would require a review and approval from the city, would it not?
Robert, no approval is needed from a city by a school district. They are autonomous and free to develop as they please. As for the homeless shelter, I don’t believe that is what is planned. From what they have published it is to be a service center for teachers and also offering Nonprofit services to community members. That’s about all that I know about the project.
We likely are in agreement on many things and I apologize if I came across rude or belligerent. The plan for the schools has already begun with the closing of Isaac Imes and Melvin E Sine at the end of last school year (phase 1), and the planned closing of Coyote Ridge, Desert Garden and Bici North schools at the end of the upcoming school year. Coyote Ridge and Desert Garden are slated to be repurposed while the rest are slated to remain empty. This will have devastating effects on the surrounding areas, most of which are already quite dilapidated. While it’s true the city council can’t prevent it, they could have come forward and spoken and stood up for what would have been best for the areas, but they didn’t.
Sharyn, No apology needed. I know that Council member Aldama spoke at a district board meeting in opposition to their plans. I also blogged about their plans and indicated that I did not support them either.
May I ask why you didn’t speak directly to the board, or even send in a letter, letting them know directly your opinion regarding the decisions they are making? Will you voice your opinion to them before they complete phase two …before the next three schools are closed?
Joyce and Sharyn,
Thank you for clarifying.
Robert,
The school is not slated to be a homeless shelter. It is being called a System of Care Center and it should offer varied social services to various people.
My last two responses don’t seem to have posted. Robert, I wanted to clarify that it won’t be a homeless shelter. It will be a Systems of Care Center where various people can go to receive different types of social services, if you will.
Ms. Clark, I had tried to ask you whether or not you intend to communicate directly with the school board before they go forward with please 2? Blogging and eluding to your opinion are one thing. Standing up and directly saying what you feel about the inevitable repercussions of their actions is completely different. What are your intentions in this situation?
Given the current border crisis, that could very easily and quickly become an immigration intake center.
Hello again! I thought that you were possibly just busy so I waited to give you ample opportunity to answer my question about whether or not you will be directly addressing the GESD school board to let them know exactly your position regarding the closure of so many schools and the likely repercussions we will see because of their decisions. Blogging and alluding to your opinion is fine, but it is not truly representing the best interests of your constituents or your city. So, please tell me, what do you intend to do as far as letting the GESD board know where you stand on this issue?
I don’t believe my comments (or yours, for that matter) will sway the board from their stated goals.
If the school board won’t listen to the concerns of the residents, maybe it’s time to boot their butts out and elect some fresh new members to the board who will listen to the people who are paying the bills.
It would be my hope that you, as a community leader, could possibly shed some light on some of the concerns you have regarding what our city faces with the closure of so many public schools…and with leaving some of these closed sites empty. Even if they don’t end up taking heed from your words, your constituents will know that you stood up for what you believed was right and best for our city. Just a thought…
Sharon, Publix cool
Sharyn, please ignore previous attempt to reply. The audio on my tablet was not cooperating. In answer to your question, public schools are the lifeblood of any community, especially if they are high-performing. When school boards close a school, those in the community, including myself may suggest new uses for their facility so that it does not stand vacant. Personally, I would like to see vacant schools turned into STEM centers.
What is a STEM center?
It focuses an Math and Science.
So will you be going before the board or writing a letter to be read during the public address time letting them know where you stand on this topic and what you think is best for Glendale as a whole?
Sharyn,
No, I will not.
Thank you for your honest reply. In my opinion that is very poor representation of your constituents. As a lifelong resident of Glendale I find this unacceptable, and I’m sure you understand why I cannot support this lack of representation.
I understand your point of view and respect it. However, please keep in mind that I was elected to the Glendale City Council and the Council crafts policies in those areas over which it has authority and jurisdiction. The city of Glendale has no control or authority over any policy created by a school board.