3 days Ago By Sarah Rodriguez
Three, two, one ...
snip! On a chilly Thursday morning, residents counted down as Vallejo city leaders huddled up to snip a red ribbon commemorating the official reopening of Lake Dalwigk. Sharing shiny oversized scissors were Vallejo City Councilmember Cristina Arriola and Greater Vallejo Recreation District Board Chair,Rizal Aliga, each showing big smiles as cameras flashed to capture the proceedings. Included in the park’s recent makeover are new restrooms, upgraded playgrounds, resurfaced walking and biking paths, reconstructed picnic areas, a new basketball court, interpretive signage and stunning mosaics by Rachel Rodi.
Although the park has been improved several times throughout the years, the collaboration required to undergo such a project was “a demonstration of the great partnership between the city, GVRD, the Vallejo Flood and Wastewater District, Solano Resource Conservation District and many volunteers,” said Arriola, in a speech to the crowd. The park’s improvement — at a cost of $4.7 million — was funded by the Clean CA Local Grant to enhance community connections while also improving South Vallejo.
The park’s surrounding area, District 6, “has been needing more revitalization,” said Public Works Director Melissa Tigbao, “so I’m hoping that this is something that will be a common space for families, for people who want to play sports, for people who want to walk their dogs and feel safe.” The park’s improvement is hopefully the start of many other much-needed improvements. “It just really changes the whole outlook of what this neighborhood can be,” Tigbao said.
Newly elected Councilmember Helen-Marie “Cookie” Gordon, who previously lived on Lemon and Cypress in Vallejo, said the park wasn’t beautiful at all, but was somewhat of a refuge for herself and her kids. She’s glad the park has improved. “I brought them here so they couldn’t tell what we were going through,” said Gordon.
“Now it’s just amazing.”.
