Grass in place, Pacana Park expansion nears debut

The finishing touches are being put on the Pacana Park expansion and it should be ready to make its debut just in time for the Maricopa Salsa Festival in a few weeks.

Crews started installing the sod on the two fields last week, and the grass should take about three weeks to take root. To ensure the grass takes hold properly, Community Services Director Marty McDonald is asking residents to not walk on the new sod until the area officially opens on April 25.

“We’re confident it will be ready for the Salsa Festival and then we’re going to be playing soccer games on it the following week,” McDonald said. “Everyone is anxious to get on it and start using it.”

The 10-acre expansion features two full-size fields built to accommodate football but can adjust for soccer and other sports. It will also include shade structures, picnic tables and another parking lot with 195 spaces. McDonald said the only features of the expansion that won’t be ready for the Salsa Festival will be the public bathrooms and a maintenance building, which should be ready to go in June.

Currently, the new fields don’t have scoreboards like the adjacent baseball diamonds, but McDonald said he hopes to work with the local football league on running a fundraiser to get scoreboards installed in the future.

Photos by David Argabright