A 22-Acre Park Rebuild, Waiting on One Electrical Part
Tucson's 22-acre Santa Rita Park missed its mid-August reopening over a delayed electrical part. What the $8M Prop 407 rebuild actually built.
Fourteen months of construction finished the splash pad, the ball fields and the mural. What is not finished is one piece of electrical equipment, and that is what moved the ribbon-cutting.
Santa Rita Park was supposed to reopen this month. On July 16 the City of Tucson said it will not — a critical piece of electrical equipment is delayed in shipping, and the city could not give an exact replacement date, only a target of early fall. Everything else at the 22-acre park just south of downtown is essentially done: fourteen months of construction, a budget in the neighborhood of $8 million, and a scope that Tucson voters funded eight years ago.
- 22 acres
- Size of the rebuilt Santa Rita Park
- ~$8M
- Reported cost of the revitalization
- $5.5M+
- Proposition 407 bond funds in the project
- 300+
- New trees and shrubs planted on the site
What Fourteen Months Actually Built
The scope is the kind that changes how a park gets used rather than how it photographs. There is a new splash pad and a covered playground — shade over play equipment is not a flourish in a Tucson summer, it is the difference between a park being usable in July and being scenery. The ball fields were renovated and the field lighting replaced, which is what makes evening league play possible when daytime heat rules out everything else. A perimeter walking path now loops the site, interior paths are ADA-accessible, and the project added new restrooms, new ramadas and a plaza sized for special events. More than 300 new trees and shrubs went into the ground.
Where the Money Came From
This is a Proposition 407 project, and that explains the timeline more than any construction schedule does. Tucson voters approved Prop 407 on November 6, 2018 — a $225 million general obligation bond package for parks and connections that promised, among other things, 25 new splash pads and 22 new playgrounds citywide. Santa Rita Park's share is more than $5.5 million in bond funds. The rest of the stack is a $150,000 Tohono O'odham Nation Gaming Grant plus city general fund dollars and impact fees. Reported totals have ranged from $7.6 million to roughly $8.4 million as the project moved from design into construction. Ground broke in April 2025, about six and a half years after the vote. If you are tracking another Prop 407 site closer to your own address, six years from ballot to bulldozer is the pace to plan around.
- The Splash Pad and Playground (New build, Covered play area, Prop 407 scope): A new splash pad and an updated playground with shade over the equipment — the two pieces that determine whether a Tucson park gets used between June and September.
- The Fields and the Loop (Renovated ball fields, New field lighting, Perimeter path): Renovated sports fields with replaced lighting for evening play, plus a walking path around the perimeter and ADA-accessible paths through the interior.
- The Public Art (Oliverio Balcells, Mosaic mural, Two metal benches): One mosaic mural and two metal benches by the artist the project's public art panel selected in February 2024, with a tile border made by local students.
The Mural's Border Was Made by Elementary Students
In February 2024 the project's public art panel selected Oliverio Balcells to lead the artwork, citing a practice that spans murals, metalwork and mosaics and a record of community engagement. What he delivered is one mosaic mural and two metal benches. The mural's border is not his work: fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade students from Borton Elementary School made the two-inch ceramic tiles that frame it, under outdoor learning teacher Mikeala Jones. It is a small line item next to a splash pad and a lighting package, and it is the only part of this park that was made by hand rather than ordered.
Why a Park Rebuild Shows Up in Property Conversations
A finished park is a dated, fixed amenity at a known address, which is more than most neighborhood improvements offer while they are pending. Anyone who has toured homes in these blocks since April 2025 has been looking at a fenced construction site with no confirmed end. From early fall they will be looking at a splash pad, lit fields and a loop path instead. That does not put a number on an appraisal, and anyone who tells you it does is guessing. What it does is close an open question. For broader context, Zillow put the average Tucson home value at $325,520, down about 2.2 percent over the past year. None of this is investment advice.
Quick reference (August 6, 2026): Santa Rita Park is a 22-acre City of Tucson park just south of downtown, near East 22nd Street and South Fourth Avenue, and the city lists the project site at East 21st Street and South Third Avenue. It is finishing an approximately $8 million revitalization funded by more than $5.5 million in Proposition 407 bond funds, a $150,000 Tohono O'odham Nation Gaming Grant, city general fund dollars and impact fees. Construction began in April 2025. The scope includes a splash pad, an updated covered playground, renovated ball fields with new lighting, a perimeter walking path, ADA-accessible paths, new restrooms and ramadas, a plaza for special events, more than 300 new trees and shrubs, and a mosaic mural plus two metal benches by artist Oliverio Balcells. On July 16, 2026 the city said the planned mid-August reopening would slip because of a shipping delay on a critical piece of electrical equipment, and is targeting early fall without a confirmed date. Reported project totals have ranged from $7.6 million to roughly $8.4 million. Dates and figures change — confirm current information with the City of Tucson before planning around any single detail.
The Takeaway
The park is built. What is missing is a part, and parts arrive. The useful thing to take from this is not the delay but the inventory: sometime this fall, the blocks just south of downtown get a splash pad, a covered playground, renovated and relit ball fields, a perimeter loop and 22 acres that have been behind a fence since April 2025. The park was established in 1903 as Southside Park and renamed for the Santa Rita Mountains in 1915, which is a long enough run that a few weeks of shipping delay is not the headline. If you are touring nearby before the ribbon-cutting, the fence is temporary and what is behind it is not — and the City of Tucson's project page, not the calendar anyone handed out in July, is where the real opening date will land.
Sources
KOLD News 13 — "Santa Rita Park grand reopening pushed back due to equipment shipping delay" — kold.com/2026/07/16/santa-rita-park-grand-opening-pushed-back-due-equipment-shipping-delay — accessed August 6, 2026
KGUN 9 — "Santa Rita Park renovation nears completion, opening pushed to August" — kgun9.com/news/community-inspired-journalism/southside-news/santa-rita-park-renovation-nears-completion-opening-pushed-to-august — accessed August 6, 2026
KGUN 9 — "City of Tucson breaks ground on Santa Rita Park revitalization" — kgun9.com/news/community-inspired-journalism/southside-news/city-of-tucson-breaks-ground-on-santa-rita-park — accessed August 6, 2026
KOLD News 13 — "Construction begins to make improvements to Santa Rita Park" — kold.com/2025/04/29/construction-begins-make-improvements-santa-rita-park — accessed August 6, 2026
Arizona Daily Star (tucson.com) — "Tucson's Santa Rita Park getting $8 million makeover" — tucson.com/news/local/article_a8dcb784-ee75-4d67-9bcf-5e6b9270c5d9.html — accessed August 6, 2026
Arizona Daily Star (tucson.com) — "Tucson neighborhood preps for renewed Santa Rita Park" — tucson.com/news/local/article_b5a7613d-aa88-457c-80af-ca289fb138ee.html — accessed August 6, 2026
Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona — "Santa Rita Park Public Art Project" — artsfoundtucson.org/santa-rita-park — accessed August 6, 2026
City of Tucson — "Santa Rita Park" (Tucson Delivers, Parks + Connections) — tucsondelivers.tucsonaz.gov/pages/santarita — accessed August 6, 2026
City of Tucson — "Santa Rita Park" (Parks and Recreation) — tucsonaz.gov/Departments/Parks-and-Recreation/Parks/Santa-Rita-Park — accessed August 6, 2026
Arizona Daily Star (tucson.com) — "Prop 407 would create 25 new splash pads, 22 new playgrounds" — tucson.com/thisistucson/tucsonlife/prop-would-create-new-splash-pads-new-playgrounds/article_06e56f06-cb34-11e8-855e-8f90aabfebd6.html — accessed August 6, 2026
Zillow — "Tucson, AZ Housing Market" — zillow.com/home-values/7481/tucson-az — accessed August 6, 2026
All figures are current as of August 6, 2026; construction schedules, opening dates and home values change, so readers should confirm current information before relying on any single figure. This post is for informational purposes only and is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase real estate. Kyle Berglund and Tierra Antigua Realty fully support and comply with the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act.
Topics
- New Development
- Santa Rita Park
- Proposition 407
- City of Tucson
- Parks
- Downtown Tucson
- Infrastructure
- Tucson
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