Roseville will carve out two small community parks this fall, tucked between homes and apartment buildings in the southwest and southeast corners of the city.
And to get them up and running, residents themselves will do some of the grunt work — setting up playground equipment and planting trees, grass and pollinator gardens.
City officials have found over the last few years that using volunteers doesn't just keep costs down, it gets neighbors and residents to buy in to a project and take ownership of it, said Jim Taylor, Roseville parks superintendent.
"We have people who look forward to it all year," Taylor said. "They'll set up the slides and swings and tunnels. It helps create this sense of community ownership."
The parks will be built simultaneously, with work starting this month to grade the fields and pour asphalt. They're expected to be completed by the end of October at a combined cost of about $500,000.
One of the parks will go on a vacant acre-sized lot at the corner of Cleveland Avenue and County Road B. The city bought the land last year with a park in mind.
The plan is to build a playground and a few walking paths while keeping as much natural space as possible, Taylor said.
"After talking with the community we came up with this idea of pollinator gardens," he said. "We'll have residents come out and plant over 3,000 pollinator plants and trees and get that in the ground before winter comes."
