North Shore celebrates reopening of community park and bridge damaged by storms

A major North Shore bridge and the North Shore Community Park are finally reopening after they both sustained major damage during heavy storms last September and October.

Repair efforts have been ongoing for almost a year now, causing an inconvenience for residents living near the Salton Sea.

“We’ve been coming over here like once a week trying to see if they’re open yet. We’re really excited about it,” said Naomi Moreno, resident, North Shore.

For families in North Shore, this is the only park of its kind. Since the park closed just hours after its grand opening last October due to severe storm damage, local families have had to travel far just for a place to play outside. “We had to drive to La Quinta, Coachella…Indio…and sometimes those parks are crowded too. It’s inconvenient to have to go out there,” said Moreno.

The park officially reopens Saturday and will offer families a skate park, a soccer field, picnic tables, sports courts, a lookout point and more.

“It’s much easier…it’s less on gas and it’s close by so we can go anytime,” said Dezyrae Moreno, resident, North Shore.

Naomi Moreno says there’s something for each of her three daughters: “One of them is really into the skate park, the other one with my husband is into basketball and the other one does a lot of exercise.”

The Desert Recreation District says it hopes the park becomes a place where families and friends can come to spend time together and enjoy scenic views of the Salton Sea — adding that the park’s landscape has been fortified to withstand the kinds of storms that come through this area.

“When the flooding came, it just washed it away. Now it’s had its time to really take root so even if we get a storm in the next month or two, we wouldn’t have that type of damage,” said Noelle Furon, public information officer, Desert Recreation District.

The District also says they plan to host special events at the community park throughout the year, such as a Dia de los Muertos festival in the fall.

Families say they’re also excited to see a major bridge in North Shore reopen this week.

“Now that we’re done…we opened the bridge yesterday…I see a lot of people that are happy now,” said Rosalio Rosales, who worked on the bridge’s repair.

Repair to the bridge, which is located on Cleveland Street and 70th avenue, cost over $600,000 dollars.