Riverside County Supervisors Unanimously Approve Plan For Thermal Community Park

The Riverside County Board of Supervisors Tuesday greenlit a plan to build a public park in Thermal — the unincorporated community’s first.

“If you ask the Thermal residents, this is about 30 years in the planning,” Kevin Kalman, general manager of the Desert Recreation District, said. “I’ve been involved with it for about the last 15, and this project is driven by the residents of Thermal.”

Because the location of the park is within the Coachella Valley Agricultural Preserve #18 and is currently under a Williamson Act with the county, the supervisors were tasked with determining whether the use of the roughly 10-acre parcel was compatible with the area’s prior designation.

“This is a needed park,” Supervisor V. Manuel Perez said. “I like to see as many parks as possible for our families out in the region, so thank you once again, and I ask my colleagues to support this item.”

As currently designed, the park will feature a baseball diamond, basketball court and soccer pitch as well as picnic areas, play areas, public restrooms and parking for approximately 70 vehicles.

“It will be the only public park in the community of Thermal, and it was designed by the community, for the community,” Kalman said. “And we’re super excited to continue moving this project forward.”

The goal of the Desert Recreation Committee is to put the project out for bid in the coming months with a groundbreaking expected later this year.

In other board action: The Riverside County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a renovation project for the Indio Juvenile Hall that includes the construction of a sand volleyball court and renovation of the existing basketball court among other projects.

A recording of the meeting can be found here on the county’s website.