Santa Clarita is inviting Newhall neighbors back to the table next Thursday to weigh in on the next phase of design for Newhall Park, a project that pairs a new splash pad and inclusive playground with an underground stormwater system most visitors will never see. The meeting runs from 6 to 8 p.m. on September 10 at the Newhall Park Community Room, located at 24923 Newhall Avenue.
According to the City of Santa Clarita Government, the session builds on feedback the city gathered during a previous outreach event and will let residents review design options and share input on the proposed splash pad, inclusive playground, fitness equipment and potential layouts for those spaces. That earlier session took place at Newhall Park on June 27, 2026, when city staff presented initial park concepts and water resource information to neighborhood residents, according to KHTS Radio. Feedback collected at next Thursday's meeting will help guide the continued development of the project design, city officials say.
Connor Hahm, an engineer in the city's Capital Improvement Projects division, is overseeing the engineering design process for Newhall Park and is listed as the point of contact for residents seeking more information, reachable at (661) 255-4322. Once public input from this round of outreach is collected, the project is scheduled to enter its formal design phase this fall, per the city's project records posted on its Capital Improvement Projects blog.
More Than Just a New Playground
The surface-level amenities getting the most attention — the splash pad, inclusive playground and fitness equipment — represent only part of the full concept for the park. City project records describe a broader plan that also includes two basketball courts with pickleball striping, a multi-purpose field, and a dedicated nature play area, giving the Newhall neighborhood a significantly expanded recreational footprint if the full vision moves forward.
The inclusive playground component fits into a citywide accessibility push that dates back to January 2020, when Santa Clarita opened its first fully inclusive playground at Canyon Country Park, according to the Santa Clarita Valley Signal. That project established a broader municipal strategy of equipping public parks with accessible play panels and specialized roller slides, a pattern the Newhall Park plans appear to continue.
What's Hidden Underground
Beneath the play structures and courts, the Newhall Park Improvements Project also incorporates a stormwater Best Management Practice infiltration system designed to capture runoff, improve water quality and recharge local groundwater, the city's project page states. That underground infrastructure is funded through LA County's Measure W Safe, Clean Water Regional Program, which directs half of its regional tax revenues toward water quality and community enhancement projects, according to city finance documents. It is a detail easy to overlook amid renderings of splash pads and playgrounds, but it is central to why the project qualifies for the county funding stream behind it in the first place.
A Park Already Getting Plenty of Attention
Newhall Park is not waiting for the design phase to see investment. The Santa Clarita City Council in June awarded a $3,081,075 construction contract to Golden Sun Enterprise, Inc. and a $100,313 professional services contract to Pacific Advanced Civil Engineering, Inc. for a separate Newhall Park Pool Pump Room Replacement project, according to city council meeting records. The park also served as a central hub for the city's fifth annual Community Beautification Day on Wednesday, hosting bulky-item drop-off, compost giveaways and mulching services, as reported by the Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
The park overhaul also fits within a much larger municipal spending picture. For the fiscal year that began July 1, 2025, Santa Clarita's Capital Improvement Program allocated $81.5 million across 44 projects citywide, with park facilities, street repairs and public buildings among the top priorities, per Signal reporting from last year. Residents who want to have a say before engineering drawings are finalized have their next opportunity next Thursday evening at Newhall Park.
