By: Barbara Archer, City of Davis
Sept. 3, 2024 – The City of Davis invites the community to the groundbreaking of the Central Park Improvements Project, which includes Natalie’s Corner in honor of City of Davis Police Officer Natalie Corona who was killed in the line of duty in 2019. The event will take place on Sept. 14 from 10-10:30 a.m. near the stage by the carousel at the park. Members of the Davis City Council, the Corona family and the Natalie Corona Committee will be on site to share an update and celebrate this milestone.
The project will create a splash pad surrounded by lawn, picnic tables, benches, shade structures, art tiles reflecting the spirit of Officer Corona, landscaping and a pollinator garden. The construction will run through June 2025 and work hours are scheduled between 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The active construction zone will be fenced off.
The new Central Park features will include the following:
· Free splash pad water feature and gathering space for all ages
· Ultraviolet water treatment and landscaped bio-filtration system
· Water-efficient landscaping, including new pollinator gardens
· Native and drought-tolerant plant identification signs and an educational display
· Added benches, picnic tables, low-wall seating, shade structures and public art
· Drainage improvements to the Great Lawn area
· Educational signage
In December 2021, the City of Davis was awarded a grant in the amount of $2.784 million by the Statewide Park Development and Community Revitalization Grant Program, Proposition 68, to renovate Central Park and create a water play feature near the existing universal play structure and restroom. The water feature will be accessible to persons with disabilities and will complement the existing universal playground located adjacent to the new water feature.
In 2020, the Natalie Corona Committee was formed to recommend a place of remembrance for Davis Police Officer Natalie Corona and to secure the necessary funding to complete the remembrance. The Committee is a community-based group led by former Mayor Lois Wolk and has been actively raising funds to support the project. To learn more about the
