The city of Guadalupe will be starting a capital campaign for the LeRoy Park and Community Center Rehabilitation project. The project is intended to bring back what was once a vibrant social gathering place.

The park was used by many different local groups for a variety of events, from quinceañeras to Comite Civico Mexicano de Guadalupe’s annual Fiestas Patrias celebrating Mexican Independence Day, whose parade used to end at LeRoy Park but stopped a decade ago due to the park’s condition.

Long thought of as the Boy and Girls Club (since it was the only user for some time); the park is also remembered for its community barbecues, outdoor concerts, community dances in the gym, and its annual car show.

In October 2018, Guadalupe was awarded a $4.5 million Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) from the state’s Housing and Community Development Department, of which $4.1 million was set aside for the renovation of LeRoy Park and Community Center.

The design process started Nov. 11, 2018 with a community meeting to discuss what the residents wanted to see at LeRoy Park. That was followed by 13 Amigos del LeRoy Park (Community Stakeholders) meetings where the project design was refined, taking into consideration the suggestions collected in November 2018 and the project budget.

In 2020, the city received an additional award for $900,000 which allowed the Community Center portion of the project to be fully funded. On July 15, 2020 (about three years from the application date), the construction contact was awarded to Quincon inc. for a total of $4,095,036.

Construction costs increased in the three-year gap between application submittal and the first day of construction. As a result, the $4.1 million grant plus the $900,000 supplemental funding is no longer enough to complete all the desired elements of this project. The bid process allowed the contractor to bid for both funded project features (phase 1) and unfunded project features (phase 2).

Per the agreement with the state, the CDBG award was to be used primarily to renovate the community center, so with the shortfall a number of park features were moved to alternates. Phase 2 being contingent on funding being found. The total cost (bid amount) for phase 2 is $1,551,164.

The city is looking for donations to help fund phase 2 features.