The California Department of Parks and Recreation Office of Grants and Local Services (OGALS) has selected the City of Salinas Closter Park Improvements application for funding. The grant award is for $6.8 Million Dollars and will fund a comprehensive renovation of Closter Park. There was a total of $548.3 Million in available funding for the fourth and final round of the Statewide Park Program. OGALS received 468 applications totaling $2.43 Billion dollars in project requests. This is a highly competitive program and Salinas was one of 112 successful applicants. A key to our successful application was our extensive community engagement for the grant and having a strong Parks, Recreation and Libraries Master Plan.

The Library Community Services Department completed a Parks, Recreation and Libraries Master Planning effort in 2019, which included a full assessment of our park, recreation and library facilities. Following this assessment and extensive community engagements in developing key project recommendations, strategies and a capital investment plan, Closter Park was ranked as the highest priority based on community need, significance, funding leverage, safety/security, usage/benefits and location/demographics. Closter park is heavily used by the community and hosts hundreds of people daily on the basketball courts, large playground, multiple ball fields, in the community center and jogging or walking around the park. Apart from the basketball courts, Closter Park is in critical condition and all the major amenities need repair due to heavy use or age.  

This grant application and now award is part of our goal to finding a solution to renovate this important park central to a thriving and densely populated community. A few key improvements identified by our community and included in the initial concept design are new bathroom and concession facilities, Amphitheatre style seating for outdoor performances, a 10’ wide fitness loop around the park with fitness stations, renovated baseball fields, colorized basketball court playing surface and a multi-use event space. There will be a whole new round of community engagement to inform the final designs for the park renovations. 

 The Parks, Rec and Libraries Master Plan was completed in 2019, laying out maintenance priorities for our park system. The plan represents community voice paired with expert evaluation. Out of over 50 parks, the renovation of Closter Park ranked the highest priority in the Parks, Recreation and Libraries Master Plan. This grant award is part of our goal to finding a solution to renovate this important park central to a thriving and densely populated community. To learn more about City of Salinas planning efforts, visit Vision Salinas.

Quick Links:

Parks, Rec and Libraries Master Plan

Vision Salinas