- Roberto Rivera has lived on Potomac Avenue since 1983, and has taken his three children and 11 grandchildren to play at Virginia Avenue Park. After all these years though, the park isn't what he remembers.
- On Thursday, county staff went to Virginia Avenue and Potomac parks to pick-up trash, repaint over graffiti, and clean up the area. This is part of a longer-term revitalization plan for parks in Kern.
- The county is spending $50 million to improve parks across Kern, a fifth of which will go to the 5th District that includes Virginia Avenue.
“Everything you see in here has been built with these two hands," said Roberto Rivera as he described his home on Potomac Avenue.
When he first moved there in 1983, it looked very different. He put in the work to build it into something he takes pride in, and the same goes for his neighborhood.
Rivera lives across from Virginia Avenue Park and over the years has taken his three children and 11 grandchildren to play there.
“We were playing every week," he said.
After all these years, though, the park isn't what he remembers.
“It’s been getting worse, one time they built up the fence around the school and they knocked it down," he said. "I feel sad because all these things are for our own good."
In March, the county shut down the bathrooms at Virginia Ave. due to vandalism. On Thursday, county staff went to Virginia Avenue and Potomac parks to pick-up trash, paint over graffiti, and clean up the area. This is part of a longer-term revitalization plan for parks in Kern.
“New lighting, new bathrooms, new walking paths, all of that increase the safety for our residents," said Ally Soper, County chief communication officer.
In the 5th District, revitalization projects have been planned for Virginia park, as well as Potomac, Belle Terrace, Heritage, and Casa Loma parks. The projects costing $10.3 million. Across the entire county, park revitalization funds are budgeted up to $50 million.
Within that budget will come new LED lighting, play structures, water pads, and perhaps most importantly for Virginia Ave., new bathrooms. These projects are scheduled to be completed over the next 12 to 24 months.
While beautification is a concern, a top priority for the county is maintenance.
“When people come out here they see the built environment, they see what they’re good enough for," said 5th District Supervisor Leticia Perez, assisting with the cleanup Thursday.
Spanning Kern County’s 8,000 miles and 40 parks, the county hopes its Ranger’s District will be able to manage maintenance, but officials admit it’s a stretch. That's why the next step is a "Take Back Your Park" initiation.
Soper said the initiative will hopefully inspire residents in their neighborhoods to take a more active role in preserving and protecting their parks.
Rivera is in agreement with this initiative, sharing his passion to protect his neighborhood himself.
“They say this is the ghetto, this isn’t the ghetto. People respect me, respect my house," he said. "It’s my neighborhood, I want to see it look better."
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