New park heralds city’s 10-year anniversary

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Maricopa broke ground Thursday on its first neighborhood park, which will be in the Heritage District at West Lexington and North Roosevelt avenues.

“This is the first celebration of our city’s 10-year anniversary,” City Manager Brenda Fischer said.

“This neighborhood park is the first park that’s built and operated by the city,” Fischer said. “We realized there’s a lot through (homeowners’ associations), but we’re very excited to offer this to you.”

The park on Lexington Avenue is a neighborhood park, as opposed to a community park like Pacana Park, said LaTricia Woods, city spokeswoman. 

The park primarily will be grass and trees but also will have picnic tables and benches.

Mayor Christian Price said although the park didn’t have a long list of amenities, it would be a perfect place for children to play.

“I would consider this a prime soccer field for a 5-year-old,” he said.

Price said the park was an example of the city’s commitment to “make the city the greatest it can possibly be, and that means for everybody, not just for places that are new but also for places that have been here a long time.”

He added that the park, which doubled as a retention basin, was an example of “forward thinking.”

Joan Koczar, a member of the parks, recreation and library committee, attended Thursday’s ceremony.

She said her time on the committee had taught her “how much is involved” in creating a park.

“It not just digging a hole and few trees in,” Koczar said. “It has to accommodate a lot of different age groups.”