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ROSAMOND - After four years of planning and waiting, a new park in
Rosamond will be unveiled Saturday.
The United Street Park, on the corner of United Street and Royal Palm
Drive, is the result of a joint-powers agreement between the Rosamond Community
Services District and Southern Kern Unified School District.
The school district owns the 10 acres and essentially loaned it to the Community Services District, which laid out the cash for the project from its share of property tax revenue for Kern County, said Sherry DeLano , RCSD general manager.
"Since we went with the bond to build West Park Elementary School, we didn't have the need or the funds to go for a school site over there," Southern Kern Superintendent Rod Van Norman said.
West Park Elementary School is under construction on the west side of town between Imperial and Holiday avenues.
Though the land belongs to the school district, all accolades go to the community services district for all its hard work on the park, Van Norman said.
The approximately $150,000 used to build the park is the community services district's only discretionary funds.
DeLano said they have been setting the money aside since 1999 for the park, after the community voted against a tax to raise funds.
"We asked the people for the power to do park and recreation and they said 'yes,' and we asked for the money and they said 'no,' " DeLano said regarding why it took so long to get the park open.
The agreement with the school district is for 10 years or longer, as long as the district doesn't need the property to build a school, DeLano said.
Van Norman said he doesn't foresee any need for the land for a long time to come.
During Saturday's grand opening there will be two dedications. One will be for a piece of play equipment designed like a space shuttle. Margaret Coffey, a community resident, decided the vacant park needed something for children to play on. She purchased the equipment on the Internet and made the donation on behalf of her late husband Rex Coffey and late father-in-law, Haskell Coffey, both of whom enjoyed long careers in aerospace.
"That was his livelihood," Coffey said of her husband. "The kids will enjoy it; it's beautiful."
In fact, some kids have been sneaking in prematurely and enjoying it already, DeLano said. Since the equipment was installed a few weeks ago, the location has been cordoned off pending a safety inspection by the state and a couple of subsequent improvements, she added.
Another donation was made by Rosamond's former honorary mayor, Dee Ewing, who recently opted not to run for re-election because of health reasons.
Ewing was the founder of a successful graffiti abatement program in the community called Rosamond Pride. She donated $800 cash remaining in the till to the park fund when she passed control of the program to the RCSD.
The grand opening and dedication ceremony is planned for 10 a.m. Saturday
at the United Street Park on United Street, north of Rosamond Blvd.
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