Disclaimer: The 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.

This week I met with city personnel to get an update on the progress regarding Heroes Park Lake. My goal as the Yucca district councilmember is to secure funding for the completion of all elements in Heroes Park. One of the most visual elements of the park is the lake feature. So where are we on the lake? We know that to date, in Fiscal Year 2021, $4.2 million is available to construct the lake.

Currently, the lake is in the preliminary design stage. There have been ongoing discussions with Salt River Project to determine whether canal water or irrigation water would be used. The Mayor and I were keenly interested in using canal water but there are problems with doing so. SRP canal water has a lot of “stuff” in it including solids, garbage and yes, even fish. Pushing that water through mechanical equipment before it reaches the lake is a recipe for expensive costs in continually repairing the equipment. Obviously a wiser decision is to use irrigation water which is available to the site.

Heroes Park lake

Now that that issue is settled the city is working on the preliminary design. I have included a conceptual design staff provided to me. The lake will be sited on the east side of 83rd Avenue.  Its size is determinant upon how far $4.2 million dollars will go. It could be anywhere from 3.5 acres to 5 acres in size. I am also including a conceptual design of the entire park. In it you will see that the water goes further eastward. The additional water will be a future expansion.

It will take nearly a year to create the final design that includes all engineering for the plan. The goal is to have all design and engineering completed by May/June of 2021 so that the RFP for construction can be put out for bid immediately. I anticipate that the lake can be completed by approximately December of 2021. Don’t take that date to the bank just yet for something could happen to delay my assumption on the date of completion.

Heroes Park design

The point is that the lake will be the next element to be constructed in the park. It will be a fishing lake. Other good news is that library expansion or community meeting space, a recreation & aquatics center and the sports fields are back in the city’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP). This is first step toward getting funding allocated by the city council for the remaining elements. Rest assured I am working on my pledge to see the  park completed.

© Joyce Clark, 2020         

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