Cays Park Master Plan Project

On October 1, 2024 the City Council provided staff further direction on the Park Design. Throughout the process, the City Council will be presented with decision points at appropriate junctures and the public will also be kept informed.

Refinement of Park Design

• Design certain park features with alternates that could be included or excluded. Features include the plaza, the sunset deck and hill, and the native gardens.
• Value engineering opportunities, such as modifying the pickleball court social area and changing material types, and the number of shade structures were also identified as alternate options. This approach provides the City Council the future opportunity to retain or remove elements later in the process depending on cost considerations.
• Modify the plan to retain the existing length of the dog park, which will add about 50 feet to the design and to explore the location of the playground within the park.

Next Steps

• Develop the technical design and engineering drawings. This work will begin in 2025 and will take about a year. The City Council will approve the final design.
• Following the design phase, an environmental review process will take place.
• Next, the final design will go out to bid
• After the bid process, a funding strategy will be finalized, and construction will take place.
• Construction will be conducted in three phases to minimize impacts on sports programming and other user groups.

City Council October 1, 2024 meeting video

On May 21, 2024, the City Council approved the Cays Park Master Plan. This was the culmination of years of effort and community engagement. With the plan adopted, the City now has a long-term vision for Cays Park. The City is refining a few elements of the plan and will next embark on financial planning, design and engineering work, and the phasing and construction timeline.

The City appreciates the community’s tremendous involvement in this project. There will be more discussions in the future to ensure that park improvements are implemented in the most efficient way possible. When additional discussions take place, the community will be notified.

City Council May 21, 2024 meeting video

The City appreciates the community's public during the public workshops held in 2023. The Design Team has compiled all feedback received from the public and the City Council from the series of outreach meetings held in 2023.

We will be sharing a preferred option park design at the following public meetings below. Please join us to share your ideas and thoughts on the preferred plan. If you can't attend in person, please email your ideas and thoughts to cayspark@coronado.ca.us.

• Thursday, March 14, 2024, 5:00 pm
  Coronado Library Winn Room, 640 Orange Avenue
  
  
• Thursday, May 6, 2024, 3:30 pm
  Parks & Recreation Commission, City Council Chamber, City Hall, 1825 Strand Way

We encourage the public to attend one or both of the meetings to learn about the design option and to share their ideas and thoughts on the preferred plan. If you cannot attend in person, please email your ideas and thoughts to coronado.ca.us.

The City of Coronado is developing a Master Plan to guide the future enhancement of Cays Park - Coronado’s largest city park. The City is hosting three public open house meetings with the design team and the public is invited. During these meetings, the City and design team will be sharing conceptual plans and potential themes for the park.

The public is invited to attend one or more of the meetings and share their ideas for the future of Cays Park. Everyone is welcome. If someone can't attend in person, they are encouraged to email the City at cayspark@coronado.ca.us with their thoughts and ideas.

Tuesday, September 12, 5-7 pm
Presentation provided and gathering public feedback
Coronado Cays Yacht Club, 30 N. Caribe Cays Blvd.

Wednesday, September 27, 4-6 pm
Drop-ins welcome any time
Cays Park, 99 Grand Caribe Isle (near dog park)

Thursday, October 5, 4-6 pm
Drop-ins welcome any time
Coronado Public Library Lobby, 640 Orange Avenue

The Cays Park Master Plan process is underway, and the community's active participation is vital to the project’s success.

In May 2023 the City’s park design team led by the Schmidt Design Group in partnership with True North Research, conducted a citywide survey of Coronado residents to determine what amenities and features they would like to see at Cays Park. The survey consultant, True North Research, will present the results of the community survey at the City Council meeting on Tuesday, August 15. The meeting begins at 4 pm in the council chambers. Please check back on this Cays Park Master Plan website to learn about upcoming community workshops and to view the survey results, which will be posted soon after the upcoming City Council meeting.

Please check the section on the right of this webpage under DOCUMENTS for the August 15 City Council survey results and staff report.

The week of May 29, 2023, the Schmidt Design Group, in partnership with True North Research, a public opinion research firm, will survey Coronado a sample selection of residents. If you receive a text, call, or email invite from True North Research, please share your opinions on how you use the park and what you might like to see in the future. The survey will only take a few moments to complete but is important to inform the City's work.

True North Research utilizes stratified random sampling to ensure a representative selection of adult residents, distributed proportionately across geographic subareas of the City. The sample characteristics are monitored during data collection and adjustments made, if needed, to compensate for higher/lower response rates within key demographic subgroups. Once selected, respondents are recruited to participate in the survey using a combination of mailed letters, email, text, and telephone, depending on the contact information available for the individual.

If you do not receive a survey invite, there will be many other ways to participate as well. You can share your ideas on the Cays Park Master Plan website in the coming weeks or by attending one of the numerous public workshops and community events in the summer.

For information regarding the survey or other questions about the Cays Park Master Plan process, please email cayspark@coronado.ca.us or contact 619.522.7335.

The Cays Park Master Plan design process will modernize the park with new landscaping reconfiguration and architecture that will include the amenities and spaces most important to Coronado. The vision is to create a beautiful and iconic public space that reflects Coronado’s history, community values, and our vibrant community.

The Master Plan process is in the beginning stages and the community's active participation is vital to the project’s success. In the coming weeks, the Schmidt Design Group, in partnership with True North Research, a public opinion research firm, will survey Coronado residents. If you receive a text, call, or email invite from True North Research, please share your opinions on how you use the park and what you might like to see in the future. The survey will only take a few moments to complete but is important to inform the City's work.

If you do not receive a survey invite, there will be many other ways to participate as well. You can share your ideas on the Cays Park Master Plan website in the coming weeks or by attending one of the numerous public workshops and community events in the summer. This is truly an exciting opportunity to re-imagine the park and design a space for the community that can be shared by all Coronado residents.

After initial public input is received, the Schmidt Design Group will design conceptual plans based on the community’s desires and ideas generated from all public feedback received. Later this summer, the project team will share those plans with the public through interactive community meetings where the Schmidt Design Group will review the designs, solicit additional community input, and refine the designs further. Draft designs and plans will proceed to a variety of stakeholder groups and the City Council for additional review and ultimately the adoption of a final plan.

The City encourages residents to share their thoughts and opinions as Cays Park is reimagined! The public's input and involvement in creating a Master Plan that balances the community’s many recreational needs with all of the amenities is vital to the process. The transformation of this space will create a signature park that will serve Coronado now and into the future.

In January, the City engaged with Schmidt Design Group to lead the reinvigorated Cays Park Master Plan process. They have executed a number of exciting park projects here in San Diego County, and the City is excited to be working with them. The project is now under way with the City and Schmidt Design Group, led by Glen Schmidt, recently holding small introductory meetings with stakeholder groups to introduce themselves and their firm.

The next step in the process is development of a new public survey that will be conducted by a professional survey firm that the City has also engaged, soliciting resident feedback on the current use of Cays Park and amenities that the public would like to see at the park in the future. The survey will help inform the design process, with conceptual options being shared with the public through a series of public workshops that will commence in early summer.

We will be working with stakeholders throughout the community to ensure they receive invites to participate in those workshops and promoting participation via the City’s various channels including the website and social media. We look forward to gathering all feedback and sharing design options with the public, with the goal of completing the Master Plan by the end of the year.