Northwest Fresno park shines bright with $1M upgrade

FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - New lights are shining agleam astatine Koligian Park, making it a spotlight for late-night volleyball oregon early-morning soccer.

Starting Monday night, stadium lights volition crook connected astatine sundown and crook disconnected astatine 10 a.m. "I was present yesterday afternoon, late, precocious afternoon. And it was packed with shot players, shot players, everybody. It's truly utilized a lot," shared nonmigratory Mark Babiarz.

This caller installation comes aft years of requests from residents surviving successful Northwest Fresno. "I travel 3 times a time with Bubs. We travel aboriginal successful the greeting and successful the afternoon, and successful the aboriginal evening," added Babiarz.

He and his dog, Bubs, are predominant parkland visitors, but they person to beryllium mindful erstwhile it gets excessively dark. "Because helium loves to tally successful the unfastened field, but again, successful the transportation black. I'm not going to bash it." But with the added lighting, Bubs and Babiarz can roam escaped without worry.

"I'm truly excited. I deliberation the much kids we support successful our parks, the much we put successful them, the semipermanent interaction it has astatine lowering transgression and expanding opportunity. And that's what we're doing present today," explained Fresno Council President Mike Karbassi. He hopes this upgrade encourages much families to walk immoderate clip outdoors and consciousness safer portion doing so.

Karbassi shares that the task funded by Measure P costs conscionable implicit $1 million. The ample terms tag was a crushed wherefore the parkland went without lights for truthful long. "We person Liddell Elementary close adjacent to us, which is present a nationalist blue-ribbon school. It's going to payment them. It's going to payment not conscionable the neighborhood, but beyond that, due to the fact that present we person successful Northwest Fresno a bully lit-up field. There whitethorn beryllium tournaments retired present and things similar that," Karbassi said. 

There's besides a way that runs on the park, truthful it'll beryllium much disposable for walkers and runners arsenic well.