Contact: Nathan Houx (209) 571-5526
No. 06-029
March 7, 2006

Freedom Neighborhood Park Groundbreaking Ceremony

The City of Modesto will host a Groundbreaking Ceremony at Freedom Neighborhood Park on Thursday, March 9, 2006, at 10 a.m., along Sharon Avenue, just west of Freedom Elementary School.

Freedom Neighborhood Park is the second of three neighborhood parks being developed in Village One. Ustach Neighborhood Park, located on Hillglen Avenue at Bear Cub Lane, is a nine-acre park and was dedicated in fall 2004. Construction of the seven-acre Sanders Neighborhood Park, located on the corner of Kodiak Drive and Litt Road, will begin later this year.

A construction contract for the seven-acre Freedom Neighborhood Park was awarded to Goodland Landscape Construction, Inc. of Tracy, California, for $2,113,090. The construction includes grading, paving, road improvements adjacent to the park, a roundabout at Sharon Avenue and Maid Mariane Lane, underground utilities, landscaping, an irrigation system, children's play areas with play apparatus, park furniture, drinking fountains, walking paths, a basketball half-court, water play area, family picnic areas, a picnic shade structure, restroom facility, park sign and security lighting.

“I am very pleased that we are beginning the second of three wonderful neighborhood parks in Village One,” said Mayor Jim Ridenour. “In addition to the fact that this will soon be a great place for families to enjoy, it will be a place to reflect on the meaning of Freedom.”

Callander Associates Landscape Architecture, Inc. of Rancho Cordova, California, designed the park. Funding for the construction will be provided through the City of Modesto Parks Capital Facility Fees, Village One Community Facilities District Tax, Congestion Management & Air Quality Grant Program and Local Gas Tax.

The ceremony will include comments from Mayor Jim Ridenour; City Staff; Laura Wharff, Freedom Elementary School Principal; Amy Harper, Freedom Elementary School PTA President and Oscar Diaz, a student at Freedom Elementary School.

Recognition of two local soldiers who have paid the ultimate price for freedom in the Iraq/Afghanistan War will also be included in the ceremony.

For more information, contact Nathan Houx at (209) 571-5526 or email: nhoux@modestogov.com.

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To contact the City of Modesto Public Information Office, 
call Jessica Smart at (209) 342-4707. Email: jsmart@modestogov.com