Palmdale officials have broken ground on a major renovation of William J. McAdam Park in east Palmdale, a project that will add a third baseball and softball field, new stadium-style lighting, and a modernized playground to the longtime neighborhood sports hub.
According to the City of Palmdale, the city broke ground on what it describes as a $6.5 million transformation of the park, funded in part through $6.3 million in Measure AV dollars. The city's social media announcement also says the project received a $274,225 California State Parks grant. City of Palmdale materials describe the finished park as a premier sports complex for the community.
Those figures do not entirely line up with other city-published numbers. A separate City of Palmdale newsflash headline describes the same renovation as a $10.8 million project, while another city snippet lists $10,356,560 coming from Measure AV specifically — both notably higher than the figures in the city's own groundbreaking announcement. The discrepancy between the city's social media post and its newsflash listings has not been resolved in available city records.
What's Actually Being Built
Regardless of the final price tag, the scope of work is well documented. The project will add a new third baseball and softball field alongside the two that already exist at the park, with energy-efficient LED lighting installed across all three fields. Plans also call for a new children's playground and modernized concession stand, restroom and storage facilities.
Local coverage of the project's construction phase fills in additional detail that the city's social post does not mention. According to avpress.com, the Palmdale City Council unanimously approved a construction agreement for the McAdam Park Improvement Project, authorizing a total not to exceed $8,048,897 — made up of a $7,317,179 contract plus a $731,718 contingency. The newspaper reported that RG General Engineering, Inc. was selected after submitting the lowest responsive and responsible bid, with the agreement allowing 250 working days from the Notice to Proceed to complete construction.
A Years-Long Push for a Third Field
The project's roots go back further than this year's groundbreaking. The city partnered with Palmdale Youth Pony Baseball to help guide the renovation, and according to the city's McAdam Park Renovations page, that collaboration dates back to 2021, when officials began working with Palmdale Pony Baseball to identify a new home for the league at the park and developed plans to add a third field.
The push for upgrades also predates the current construction contract. The same avpress.com report on the construction agreement noted that the city had already secured two grants totaling $274,225 in 2022 for replacement of the park's existing playground equipment — a detail that aligns with the grant figure cited in the city's groundbreaking announcement, even if it's not confirmed whether that 2022 total and the grant referenced this week are one and the same.
Scope Includes Parking, Walkways and Landscaping
Beyond the ball fields and playground, the construction agreement described in the avpress.com report outlines a broader package of site work: landscaping, parking lot improvements, pedestrian walkways, and a new monument sign at the park entrance, in addition to the new restroom, concession stand and storage building. The new baseball field itself will include sports field lighting as part of that same scope.
For families in east Palmdale, where William J. McAdam Park has long served as a neighborhood gathering spot, the renovation promises a significantly expanded footprint for youth sports. With a construction timeline measured in working days rather than a fixed calendar date, exactly when the third field and new amenities will be ready for play has not been specified in available city or news accounts.
