SHAFTER, Calif. (KERO) — Through various state and county grants, as well as a large donation from the Wonderful Company, the Shafter Community Sports Complex broke ground on Thursday.
- The full project is expected to cost approximately $30 million and cover 42 acres of land south of Lerdo Highway near Golds and Ash Avenues. Thursday's groundbreaking was for the first phase of the project which will feature several baseball and softball fields, soccer fields, multi-use courts, and more.
- Shafter Recreation and Park District Manager Phillip Jimenez said the vision for this project came to be about a decade ago and efforts to get to this point ramped up in recent years and he's excited that the District and its Board of Directors were able to be part of a historic event and a community space that will last for generations.
- Andy Anzaldo, the Wonderful Company's Chief Operations Officer of Corporate Social Responsibility, said the $5.5 million gift to the SRPD is the company's largest contribution to Shafter, and despite being a Garces High School alumni, he's excited to see the project come to fruition through the company's partnership with the district.
- Jimenez said the hope is to have phase one of the project wrapped up by August 2025, but realistically it could take a few extra months depending on construction timelines.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
A dream in Shafter will start to take shape, following a groundbreaking last week. I'm Sam Hoyle, your Shafter neighborhood reporter, on Thursday various community members and community partners gathered for the groundbreaking of the Wonderful Company Shafter Community Sports Complex.
The project headed by the Shafter Recreation and Parks District has officially been in the works for several years, but the vision for it came just over a decade ago.
"The vision has been painted in 2013 by the previous district manager Ralph Gonzales and the previous board," said Jimenez.
That's Phillip Jimenez, the District's Manager and a long-time resident of shafter, who says he can't wait to see how the project will benefit the community going forward.
"Not only is this making history, but this going to be here for generations on generations, the complex that we played on at one point in time, it was here for generations," said Jimenez. "Words can't express how I felt that day. It's a start of -- from when I was talking with other people -- now the real work has started."
The full scale of the project is 42 acres south of Lerdo Highway and near Golds and Ash Avenues, however, this first phase will cover 24 acres of the project and will feature several baseball and softball fields, soccer fields, multi-use courts, and much more.
The project is estimated to be 30 million in total, and is paid for through district funding, county and state grants, as well as a 5.5 million dollar donation by the charitable arm of the Wonderful Company.
Andy Anzaldo, the Wonderful Company's Chief Operating Officer of Corporate Social Responsibility, said the company's goal with the donation is to benefit communities where Wonderful employees live and work, and he hopes once construction is wrapped up for this first phase, that the park is packed day and night.
"My hope is this park is filled every night, every day, with kids and adults in a community that is using a resource that the Shafter Recreation and Park District, the Wonderful Company -- we all came together, we built this," said Anzaldo.
In talking with Jimenez he said the hope is to have the first phase of the project done by August of 2025, but it could take a little longer depending on construction timelines.
(EDITOR'S NOTE: A previous version showcased Anzaldo's title as Chief operations officer of Corporate Social Responsibility, this has been changed to Chief Operating Officer of Corporate Social Responsibility)
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