Carlsbad broke ground Monday, July 6, on Veterans Memorial Park, a 93.7-acre project near Faraday Avenue and Cannon Road that will become the city’s largest community park.
City Council members joined veterans, community members and state and federal elected officials for the ceremony. The park is planned as Carlsbad’s first dedicated place to recognize the nation’s veterans while also providing recreation areas, trails and open space.
“After years of planning, partnership and community outreach, we are proud to break ground on what will be Carlsbad’s largest park,” City Manager Geoff Patnoe said in a news release. “It’s especially fitting that this space will honor our nation’s veterans as we mark the country’s 250th anniversary.”
The park will include a Veterans Memorial Plaza with interpretive panels honoring each branch of the U.S. military, bronze inlaid mottos, a flagpole, a small platform and seating. Other planned features include an inclusive playground, picnic and gathering areas, outdoor fitness areas, restrooms, electric vehicle charging stations, connections to the citywide trail network and Carlsbad’s first bike park.
“This park was thoughtfully designed to reflect what our community told us they wanted,” Parks & Recreation Director Kyle Lancaster said in the news release. “It will provide a range of amenities and open spaces that support both active use and quiet reflection, while creating a meaningful place to honor our nation’s veterans.”
The park will be divided into north and south areas, connected through passive open space and a public art feature near the site’s high point. The feature, called “The Ring,” is designed by Napa-based artist Gordon Huether Studio and will be located on the park’s upper plateau overlooking Agua Hedionda Lagoon, the ocean and nearby open space.
Assemblymember Tasha Boerner (D-77th District) attended the groundbreaking and noted the importance of having art as part of the park.
“Art is the soul of our community, and great art is born out of great sorrow,” Boerner said in her remarks at the event. “And it’s appropriate here that we have public art.”
Boerner also highlighted the inclusive aspect of the playground area, a type of element she is pushing to be codified in state law.
Last year, students at La Costa Heights Elementary School authored the California Inclusive Playgrounds Act, a bill promoting playground accessibility for children of varying ability levels. After months of research, students presented their proposal to Boerner, California Secretary of State Shirley Weber and state Sen. Catherine Blakespear (D-38th District). Boerner introduced the act as AB-2241.
“The bill was written by the kids, the fifth-graders at La Costa Heights here in Carlsbad,” she said in her remarks. “So it’s moving through the process, fingers crossed, please pray, that it gets through Appropriations and the governor signs it.”
Rep. Mike Levin (D-49th District), who also attended the groundbreaking, noted the combined local, state and federal efforts to secure park development funds. Levin helped secure a $3 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, while Boerner helped secure a $5 million grant from the California Natural Resources Agency.
“This is a project several years in the making, and I’m really honored to have been able to get $3 million in a federal grant to help support the city funding and the state funding to make this park a reality,” Levin said in a social media video shortly after the event. “And so great honor to get to serve our vets in any way we can, and this park is a great commemoration to them, particularly on the 250th birthday of our great nation.”
The combined Veterans Memorial Park project and nearby Faraday Avenue road improvements are estimated to cost about $58 million, with about $57.2 million of that money going toward the park. The city’s project page states that most funding will come from sources set aside for growth-related infrastructure and outside grant funding, not the city’s general fund.
The City Council approved construction plans in October 2025 and awarded a nearly $39 million construction contract this past February. BrightView Landscape Development is set to build much of the park under that contract.
Construction is expected to take about two years.
If your organization is planning North San Diego County events around the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, send press releases and announcements to the North Coast Current and OsideNews at news[at]northcoastcurrent.com.
