Input for new recreation facilities at park sought

Oceanside will collect people’s opinions about recreational facilities that could go into El Corazon Park Site 1 in a community meeting from 6 to 8 p.m. today in the conference center next to the William A. Wagner Aquatics Center on Senior Center Drive.

The 17-acre park site near the northwestern corner of Rancho Del Oro Drive and El Corazon Drive is part of 465 acres that the city acquired in 1994. An initial public meeting held online Sept. 19 helped identify some of residents’ top priorities, such as ball fields, a dog park, a BMX bicycle course and others.

Basketball courts, pickleball courts, community gardens, playgrounds, picnic areas and more sports fields are among the other possibilities discussed.

Two multiuse sports fields are the only recreational facilities planned for the park site so far, but there’s room for more. Part of the property also will include a parking lot with about 630 spaces to be shared with the Frontwave Arena, a nearby 170,000-square-foot indoor sports arena under construction.

Also nearby are the El Corazon Senior Center, the aquatics center, and the 22-field SoCal Sports soccer complex, which hosts soccer, lacrosse and rugby events for teams from throughout the Southwest.

Information gathered at today’s meeting will be used to refine a design that will be presented to the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission, which will make a recommendation to the City Council.

“We want to ensure that El Corazon Park Site 1 meets the diverse recreation and leisure needs of the Oceanside community,” said Darlene Nicandro, the city’s development services director, in a recent news release. Additional information about the project is on the city’s website at www.ci.oceanside.ca.us.

The proposed park site is one of nine park sites in an El Corazon specific plan adopted by the City Council in 2009. The plan also designated areas for commercial and residential development to help provide revenue to pay for the construction and maintenance of recreational facilities in the park.