Scripps Ranch celebrates $8 Million long-awaited overhaul of Jerabek Park
Families in Scripps Ranch are enjoying a new park, this weekend.
“Jerabek Park has always been a place for connection and celebration, and today we’re reclaiming that,” said Victoria Labruzzo, chairperson of the Scripps Ranch Community Planning Group. She joined San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and Bob Ilko, president of Scripps Ranch Civic Association at a ribbon-cutting event Saturday morning.
The public community collaboration collected almost $8 million in city and state funding to pay for the renovation project that broke ground in September 2023. Ongoing delays in completing construction were caused by continued pandemic supply chain issues and budget problems.
In 1984, Jerabek Park at 10150 Avenida Magnifica opened near an elementary school with the same name. The City of San Diego property had gone decades without major renovations.
“I’ve been waiting a long time for this to open,” said Emma Grace Walter, 8, a neighborhood Brownie Girl Scout who attended with her troupe. Her mother Patty Walter was a chaperone. “It’s astonishing to be here and have my daughter see what the community did together to have this park open for her and future generations,” Walter told NBC 7.
Visitors to the park can now enjoy two playground areas, outdoor fitness equipment, modern bathrooms and a new concessions building. The sidewalks are now accessible for everyone, and the parking lot has been resurfaced and made safer, too.
“This is one of the reasons we moved to Scripps Ranch to the house we ended up in,” said Jesse Nelson who brought his four-year old son, Remy, to play on the monkey bars. “It’s close to the school, close and now close to the new park. We knew it would be open eventually.”
According to Mayor Gloria, Scripps Ranch is the latest location of ninety-three new or improved parks projects that the city has completed in the past five years from San Ysidro to the San Pasqual Valley.
