The City of Tustin, in collaboration with the Tustin Unified School District (TUSD), is proud to announce that it has received a $5.6 million Statewide Parks Program Grant from the State of California for the design and construction of a new park located at Heideman Elementary School.
Heideman School Park will provide much needed outdoor space for the surrounding neighborhood to gather, exercise, celebrate, and relax. Amenities will include a new multipurpose athletic field, playground, restrooms, picnic shelter, sports field and walkway lighting, running/walking track, outdoor fitness equipment, a tactile experience garden and renovated basketball courts.
“This $5.6 million in grant funding represents the culmination of a lot of hard work by staff, TUSD and our residents,” stated Mayor Austin Lumbard. “Heideman School Park will provide community access to a much-needed recreational area and I look forward to seeing it come to fruition.”
The park conceptual design is the direct result of multiple public input meetings hosted by the Tustin Parks and Recreation Department and attended by youth, family and senior residents living within a ½ mile of the school site, as well as TUSD representatives and the Tustin Police Department. Heideman School Park is expected to be completed by early 2025 and will be available to the public after school hours and on weekends and holidays.
Last week, California State Parks announced a total of $548.3 million in grant funding to deliver new parks to more than 100 communities to enable all Californians, regardless of zip code or income, to access parks and open space. Awarded through the Statewide Park Program Development and Community Revitalization Grant Program, the grants represent the single-largest investment in state history in expanding access to parks in underserved communities, with new or enhanced parks funded in every region of California.
“This successful grant and the resulting community park are the most recent successes in the ongoing collaboration between the City of Tustin and the Tustin Unified School District,” stated TUSD Board President, Johnathan Abelove. “This project will make a significant difference for the students and residents in the Heideman school community.”
The awards are funded by $153 million approved by the Legislature in the 2021-’22 state budget and $395.3 from the California Drought, Water, Parks, Climate, Coastal Protection, and Outdoor Access for All Act of 2018 (Proposition 69). To date, the Statewide Park Development and Community Revitalization Grant Program has provided $1.16 billion to California’s communities in four rounds, including $368 million in grant funding from Proposition 84 (2006 Bond Act) Sustainable Communities and Climate Change Reduction program.