SAN DIEGO — Construction on the long-awaited Beyer Park in San Ysidro kicks off this week, with a goal of completing the eight-acre park by spring 2026, officials announced Tuesday.
Machinery can be seen from a distance, a sign meaning a long awaited project is coming to life.
“We hear a lot of noise this morning, you know a lot of cars parking and taking pictures whatever and I go oh yeah I think this time it's for real cause some other times they came but next day nothing happened,” San Ysidro Resident Marco Antonio Rocha said.
Marco Antonio has lived near the project site for about three decades, he’s waited for the park to open. Rocha is excited to have an area close by to ride his bike.
“I would like to go because everything else is too far from me,” Rocha said.
Phase 1 of the project, slated for a 43-acre undeveloped site, is receiving funding through several sources, including Mayor Todd Gloria's Parks for All of Us initiative.
"Beyer Park will be the first new public park in San Ysidro in over 25 years and serves as an example of our commitment to providing every San Diegan with access to high-quality recreational spaces," Gloria said. "It's also an example of why partnerships matter, and I'm grateful to the California Statewide Park Development and Community Revitalization Program and funds secured by [Rep. Juan Vargas, D-San Diego], which together provided the millions of dollars in funding to make this vision a reality."
San Ysidro residents have waited decades for a park in the location, with an unimproved 6.78-acre site designated for future park development in a 1974 community plan. Both the 1990 and 2016 San Ysidro Community plans reiterated calls to build Beyer Park along East Beyer Boulevard.
"My top priority is to ensure residents of District 8 have the amenities that provide for a high quality of life, like parks and libraries," said Councilwoman Vivian Moreno, whose district includes San Ysidro. "For over 30 years, City Hall has promised to build Beyer Park for the residents of San Ysidro. Unfortunately, past city leaders failed to keep that promise. I am proud to have worked closely with community members, particularly San Ysidro youth, to finally build Beyer Park and deliver residents with the park space they deserve."
When complete, the park will have a children's playground area, ball fields, picnic areas, restrooms, a dog park, skate park, walking trails and public art, according to city documents.
“I think it's great, it's cool that you know we can just have birthday parties right across the street and the kids can ride their skateboards or play basketball and mingle with other kids, get away from the video systems and stuff,” San Ysidro resident Giovanni Resto said.
Through San Diego's Commission for Arts and Culture, artists Ingram Ober and Marisol Rendón created an art piece for Beyer Park, titled "Air Sanctuary." The artwork consists of a "singular ironwood tree that will grow within a sculptural enclosure that relates visually to the growth of the tree and that also creates a charismatic space to contemplate the living processes of a tree," a city statement reads.
Visitors to the park will be able to watch the tree grow and change with the seasons.
Through Parks for All of Us, Beyer Park received $1 million from the Citywide Park Development Impact Fee in March 2024. The project also received an allocation of $2.5 million in Community Development Block Grant funding in fiscal year 2023, along with $8.5 million in funding from the state's Park Development and Community Revitalization Grant Program.
For Phase 2 of the project, the federal government in 2022 gave a $5 million grant from a program that aims to create more green space and outdoor recreation options in underserved areas.
The total project cost is around $22.4 million.
"Construction for the new Beyer Park has been a long time in coming and is exciting to see come to fruition," said Andy Field, director of the city's Parks and Recreation Department. "We thank our numerous partners, including the San Ysidro community, youth, numerous nonprofit organizations, and federal and state levels of government, in helping fund and build this much- needed park.
"It's important that all San Diegans have equitable access to park and recreation resources and this brings us one step closer to ensuring that more parks are available to more people across our city," he added.