Speeches, live music, a lottery for community garden plots and a ribbon-cutting ceremony highlighted the grand opening of Civita Park in Mission Valley on April 29, which kept to a Civita tradition of holding events on Arbor Day weekend.<\/p>\n For the last seven years, the Civita planned community has held an Arbor Day event to mark progress in its construction. Last year, the first tree was planted in the 14.3-acre Civita Park construction site. This year, Civita celebrated the completion of the 10-acre phase one of the park, which features a water fountain, seasonal waterfall feature, amphitheater and community garden.<\/p>\n \u201cOur parks, our open spaces, our natural environment \u2014 that\u2019s what defines us in San Diego and makes us special and to be here today with all of you to help dedicate this beautiful new park is a great day, not just for us here at Civita, but for the entire city,\u201d Mayor Kevin Faulconer said. \u201cParks are where we make memories. That\u2019s why parks are worth fighting for and that\u2019s why it\u2019s important to have them done right.\u201d<\/p>\n Marco Sessa, senior vice president of Sudberry Properties, the master developer of Civita, highlighted Civita\u2019s growing community by acknowledging a group of residents who were wearing bright orange shirts that said \u201cSave Civita\u201d \u2014 a nod to the movement to block a proposed street connector through the development into Serra Mesa along Franklin Ridge Road.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, when I see that, it\u2019s the fact that we\u2019re creating community and folks are getting together over issues they care about and meeting each other,\u201d Sessa said. \u201cIt\u2019s one thing to get the concrete and the rocks and things that we built, but to get that social engagement is what really makes this community a community.\u201d<\/p>\n Nicole Howard, one of the Civita residents wearing an orange \u201cSave Civita\u201d shirt, described the new park as \u201cfantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt really underscores the ideal of the county\u2019s Live Well San Diego movement with its walkability, recreation facilities, gardening, social connectedness, so we love it and hope it remains a walkable community as it is presented today,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Howard moved to Civita two and a half years ago, when the park was just an empty lot. Now the public park that she lives next to has many features to offer, including:<\/p>\n \u201cI love the animal sculptures and the tile mosaic wall,\u201d Howard said. \u201cOne of our tiles is included in the wall so we\u2019re super happy that we have a permanent connection to the park.\u201d<\/p>\n Right now, Civita Park has developed only 10 acres. The remaining 4.3 acres will be built in phase two, which Sudberry representatives say should open sometime next year and will include two playgrounds, more fields, a bocce court, a \u201cMining Relic Terrace\u201d with historic mining equipment and a Caterpillar D8 bulldozer, and three more gardens.<\/p>\n \u201cJust like San Diego is a city of mesas and canyons, Civita Park is a canyon and open space that flows through the center of this community,\u201d Civita Park designer Glen Schmidt said. \u201cWe hope that when you come here, you will enjoy the first phase \u2014 wait until you see what have in store for you in the second phase \u2014 and we hope that you will discover things every time you come.\u201d<\/p>\n Besides the additions to the park, there are more housing developments planned for the Civita complex, as well.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a whole bunch more stuff to come,\u201d Sessa said. \u201cWe continue to work with San Diego Unified to get a school built. You guys are all sitting on beautiful green grass that we expect to maintain green forever because we will be building a reclaimed water treatment plant building that hopefully we\u2019re going to start this summer.\u201d<\/p>\n Civita Park is located on Civita Boulevard at Russell Parkway, just north of Friars Road. For information on events at the park, such as concerts, farmers markets, car shows, movies in the park and more, visit civitalife.com.<\/p>\n![\"Civita](\"https:\/\/missionvalleynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/web-MAIN-Civita-page-1.jpg\")
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