When resident Tanya Castaneda saw that the swings had been removed from her children’s favorite and only neighborhood park in Chula Vista, she knew she had to say something.
“It made me sad to see orange cones marking the holes where the slide was removed and parts of the structures boarded up with plywood,” she said.
Eucalyptus Park has been a sad sight for many years. It is one of 56 parks Chula Vista owns and manages, and is on a list of green spaces with playgrounds and structures in need of repair or replacement, according to the city’s Parks and Recreation department.
Though Eucalyptus saw some repairs over the past year, the city is now planning to give it a $5 million face-lift designed to make it more welcoming and improve pedestrian connection between its lower and upper sections.
Chula Vista received $7.1 million in state grants to improve the park; $1.9 million is for…