Two new parks have opened inside the Marcona Preserve development, giving the growing Shafter-area community fresh spots to putt, play chess and toss cornhole bags. The 2.75 acres of combined park space come with putting greens, chess tables, a ping-pong table and cornhole, rounding out recreational options for a neighborhood still in the middle of a major build-out.
Lennar and Park District Celebrate the Opening
North of the River Parks District and Lennar celebrated the opening together, according to turnto23.com. Lennar, the housing development company behind both the Gossamer Grove and Marcona Preserve communities, developed the two parks and described them as spaces where neighbors can connect, families can make memories, and residents can truly feel at home. With the addition, North of the River now counts 27 parks across its district.
District records point to the likely identities of the two sites. On April 21, 2025, the North of the River Recreation and Park District board approved the name Marcona Preserve Park for a 1.75-acre site within the development, according to the North of the River Recreation and Park District. The same meeting saw the board approve the name Raven Way Park for a 1.0-acre site in the same development, bringing the combined acreage in line with the newly opened total.
A Fast-Growing Development Off Seventh Standard Road
Marcona Preserve has been taking shape for several years under a development agreement between Lennar and the city. The Shafter City Council approved a revised pact with Lennar Homes for the project off Seventh Standard Road back in April 2024, per the Wasco Tribune. That agreement set the stage for a community planned to start with roughly 400 initial residences and eventually grow to 1,200 homes across three phases, the newspaper reported.
The broader development plan called for four parks along with meandering sidewalks, a bike path, a natural trail and a dedicated walking path, according to the same Wasco Tribune report. Trail connections and nonmotorized travel were a recurring theme in those plans, which also described a bike lane along Jewetta Avenue North as part of the project's circulation network.
Part of a Bigger Pattern for Lennar's Local Parks
This isn't Lennar's first park rollout in the Shafter area. The builder opened Gossamer Grove Community Park in July 2023, a five-acre site with playing fields, picnic areas and a playground, according to the Lennar Newsroom. That park included soccer fields, a baseball diamond, a tot lot, a shade structure and picnic areas, and other parks within Gossamer Grove added basketball and pickleball courts, playgrounds and a dog park linked by pedestrian and bike trails, the company said.
Gossamer Grove's park identity has leaned into playful themes over the years. Flight Park, one of two parks that had opened in the development by 2019, featured airplane-themed play structures, The Shafter Press reported at the time. A separate park in the community later took on a train theme, the Wasco Tribune noted in an August 2023 report on Gossamer Grove's final building phase.
What's Next for the District's Master Plan
The park additions arrive as North of the River Recreation and Park District works through a broader planning effort. The district has revised its master plan roughly every decade since 1965, and in January 2026 its board approved a contract with MIG, Inc. to conduct a comprehensive update, according to the district. That update is slated to include a needs assessment survey, a nexus study for developer impact fees, capital improvement project funding and a strategic plan for implementation, per the district's own materials.
