McCarthy Donates Time to Build Santa Ana Park

Families in Santa Ana will soon be able to enjoy a new park thanks to thousands of hours of volunteer work from employees of Newport Beach-based McCarthy Building Cos.

The $3.6 million Green Heart Families Park and Community Center, built by Latino Health Access and scheduled to open in April, is located on E. 4th Street in downtown Santa Ana. Project officials said McCarthy, its design-build partner TAYLOR and Petra ICS, helped make the project a reality by donating 2,000 hours of architectural and preconstruction services, as well as securing discounted rates from subcontractors and vendors.

 “A significant number of man hours and supplies have been donated in order to complete this park project that took nearly one year to build," Shaun Sleeth, McCarthy’s project manager for project, said. "Although the project added time to my work day, the children looking down from their condominium balcony at the construction activity below in anticipation of finally having a safe place to play kept me and our team going."

Inspired by the idea of a group of mothers, the park features open field play areas, a tot-sized basketball court, two playgrounds, restrooms and security features. The 2,500-square-foot community center has a full-size industrial kitchen, a glass paned lobby area, restrooms and a large multi-purpose room with audio and visual equipment.

Nutrition, exercise, parenting, English as a Second Language, computer literacy and job development classes will be offered for free or at a low-cost at the center.

"Our new park is the dream of almost ten years for the community to have a place where our children can play and families can exercise and learn about healthy living," American Bracho, president and CEO of LHA, said.

“Because this park and community center was built by the community for the community, the design takes its cues from the people it will serve,” added Damon Barda, architect with TAYLOR. 

The project was also constructed with the environment in mind including the use of recycled or recyclable materials, thermally efficient windows and low flow plumbing fixtures.

The project was part of the efforts to bring outdoor recreational space to downtown Santa Ana, according to project officials.