Though residents excitedly greeted the opening of Gilbert Regional Park and Desert Sky Park in 2019, the two giant parks remain largely blank canvases with more acreage untouched than developed.

But after receiving input from residents, town officials have presented in different forums this spring an updated look at what the parks might become in the next few years.

The 272-acre Gilbert Regional Park, 64 of which have been developed, could include a multitude of uses: ballfields, a climbing area, action sports and community areas and a nature zone with hiking trail loops and connections, according to the plans.

The park already is future home to one public-private partnership, the Cactus Surf Park, which should begin construction later this year. The park has two other smaller areas where the town is looking for a private partner to develop.

“I think the public's going to be pretty happy with [the park plans],” said Council Member Scott Anderson, who was also a former parks director for the town. “It's a good balance. A lot of different users can find something in that park. And I think that's what the real strength of that park is.”

The 115-acre Desert Sky Park, meant to be more of a fitness park, will put more multiuse ball fields into play, including a showcase field for championship play, according to town plans. Those fields could put a significant dent into the town’s projected sports field needs, officials said.

It also will have more trail space, a plaza for food trucks and vendors serving tournaments, and additional playground equipment. The parks could cost $237 million to build out, according to town estimates, with money coming from different sources.

A new master plan—built upon the old plan, community input and the sports field assessment—is expected to go before council later this year, but Parks and Recreation Director Robert Carmona stresses even that is flexible.

“What we want to make sure is, that because trends change, that we left some of these areas flexible,” he said.

Making use of open space

Gilbert Regional Park sits on a flood control plain that the town acquired from Maricopa County in 2015. The tract included 47 acres of “high and dry” land. The first 30 acres, which make up the project’s Phase I, were built there.

The park land still has flood control requirements upon it, and changes in those requirement as well as how much high and dry land was available has affected the planning, Carmona said.

Those also are reasons why the town went back to citizens, holding public and special-interest group meetings and surveying residents online with the chance for them to give comments.

The aim was to make sure the town was giving the residents amenities they wanted and needed, Carmona said.

“It's that blend of making sure that when you go to a park like Regional, that it really can fill everybody's interests,” he said.

Carmona said the No. 1 request from the public was a dog park, and that is included.

“It's truly a regional-size dog park,” he said. “It's one that I think will fill a lot of needs for the dog parks in the community.”

That community area also includes a “backyard” area convenient for a barbecue with a ramada and family games, he said.

Another highly requested amenity was the action sports zone that will bring a skate park and a pump track—a circuit of rollers, banked turns and features for cyclists that is designed to be ridden by "pumping," or generating momentum by up and down body movements, instead of pedaling or pushing.

The action sports area also could have a vendor-run climbing center with ropes and a challenge course.

The town’s sports field assessment also was considered here, with the inclusion of six softball and four baseball fields. Like Desert Sky, those will have plaza space among the fields where, for example, food trucks can serve families attending a tournament.

Carmona also noted the inclusion of a nature area at the south end of the park for more passive recreation.

“The addition of a nature area was one of the ones that wasn't as widely utilized before, but because of that area that's at the very south of the park, it has a really nice element to create more of that nature space for trails, almost like a mini-riparian,” he said.

Anderson, credited as the father of Gilbert’s Riparian Preserve, had hoped some of the park land would be preserved in such a manner and that it could further connect to nearby areas. Anderson said he is happy with the plans.

“That south section that's more of what they refer to as kind of a riparian area is someplace that I thought that we might be able to see if we could attract a wildlife rehab facility or something like that,” he said. “Something like that that would draw attention to that area. And then eventually I know that staff is looking at ways of making a connection to the riparian area across Higley Road [from the park] there.”

The park’s Phase 1 and Phase 1B also included two levels of playgrounds, a splash pad, beach volleyball, basketball, tennis and pickleball courts, plus a lake, amphitheater and Great Lawn for events. The event space has been utilized for regional events, like March’s Boots in the Park concert that drew a sellout crowd of 10,000 attendees, with about 3,000 from out of state.

Carmona said the town intends to continue to do some big events like that, but not go overboard.

“I think the important thing for us is finding that balance,” he said. “We want to make sure it's a Gilbert community park, but then also understanding that people are very interested in it all across Arizona.”

Sports field needs

The town’s 2014 sports field needs assessment showed Gilbert, with its young population, was at a deficit in having enough fields to meet youth sports demand.

More than any place else, Desert Sky Park stands to take bite out of those needs. Four multipurpose fields opened in 2019, and it has space for another 12 available to develop.

The fields are collegiate-sized and of a high quality with a sand base on them, Carmona said. That allows them to be more durable than other fields.

Carmona said the most positive feedback thus far has been on lighting with LEDs that keep the light down on the field without light pollution affecting the neighborhoods.

“That's another one of those concepts of trying to be the best neighbor possible,” he said. “We want to make sure when we have these fields and these parks that we're minimally affecting the neighbors nearby.”

Making one of the fields into a championship field also is being explored, officials said.

“That will targeted for about a thousand spectators or so with that integrated shade and space for special events—nothing to rival any of the larger stadiums, but just something that we think would be well utilized not only in the Gilbert community, but, there'd be definitely users who would be interested in that space.”

Also in response to public comment, the plan also calls for distributed parking throughout the park so that people can find space near whichever field they are assigned, Carmona said.

Beyond fields, the park could include another trailhead into the community and a sensory playground.

“One of the things we'd like to add between Regional and Desert Sky both is the concept of some of the sensory trail areas and just more sensory areas to make sure that we are having those areas for people with all abilities to be able to experience and make sure that we have more inclusive parts,” Carmona said.

Paying the bill

Current cost estimates for the parks buildouts are $164 million for Gilbert Regional Park and $73 million for Desert Sky Park, according to town plans.

“We're very early on and we have we're in a period of inflation and everything else,” Carmona said. “I know those [figures] would be somewhat fluid, too.”

To date, the town already has spent $32.6 million on Regional’s Phase 1 and 1B and $19.6 million on Desert Sky’s opening.

The town does have about $10 million in system development fees set aside from Desert Sky Park and an estimated $9 million coming from land sales for Gilbert Regional Park, according to town documents.

That leaves an estimated $218 million to be funded in some manner. One potential source, officials acknowledge: a parks bond.

“We're in the early stages where [the parks department] is looking to update master plan documents and some pre-design information so that we can get better information on what the community needs and is looking for and better cost information that we can take to council in the upcoming years as we continue to work on this project,” Budget Director Kelly Pfost said. “But bonds [are] one of the things we're looking at.”

Pfost said the town will use other monies first and bonds as a last resort.

Still, the gap between available monies and what costs might end up being is pretty large, Pfost said. Saving up such money would require a lot of time, so a bond may make the most sense. It would allow the parks to be completed and the money to still be paid out over time. Town Council would make that call, however a timeline has not been determined.

“We'll have to see what happens with property values and the town, what happens with the timing of need for the [$515 million] transportation bonds [passed in November],” Pfost said. And if we can, we do try to keep it at the 99-cent [secondary property] tax rate, try to maintain that stability and consistency for citizens.”

That means a parks bond may be a couple years off. In the meantime, the plan could still change, Carmona said.

“The community is still going to have chances to interact on both of these parks,” he said. “They’re not in full design. It’s just the conceptual plan. As we continue design on any of them, we would do community outreach on all of them and continue to get that feedback.”