ORO VALLEY, Ariz. — Oro Valley has some big changes coming, the town council approved $25 million in bond financing for parks and recreation.
More than half of the bond will be used to add amenities to Naranja Park, it’ll also fund projects at the Community and Recreation Center and expand the multi-use path system.
Some of the plans for Naranja Park are to add more multi-sport fields, pickleball and basketball courts, a splash pad, a pump track for bike riders and a skate park.
“In April of this past year, we voted to expand the half-cent sales tax that was previously dedicated to the community center fund to all parks and recreation programs,” said Oro Valley Mayor Joe Winfield. “With that vote, it really opened the door, essentially, to use that revenue to fund the debt service for the bond financing at $25 million for these parks and recreation facilities.”
Winfield said the vote was non-voter approved due to having an existing revenue stream and just extending the use of it.
Construction is expected to start in July 2022 with different phases being done earlier than others. The parks & recreation project in total looks like an end date of fall 2024.