By A. Gabriela Garcia, May 5, 2026
Construction of a proposed campus park will begin after spring commencement in the area previously occupied by Cal Poly Pomona’s turtle pond, the Palmitas and Cedritosresidence halls, La Cienega Center and Los Olivios Commons, according to CPP’s facilities planning and management team.
Facilities planning and management have been given the proposed design and are developing the final construction documents. Once completed, the cabinet will be reviewed thedocuments again before sending them to a contractor to begin the reclamation of the area, according to Joe Boyer, the project manager.
“If we can get the contracting done soon enough, our goal on this end is to start construction as soon as possible, immediately following commencement,” Boyer said.
The area underwent a $9 million demolition as part of the California State University Five-Year Plan that required the university to remove structures built on the active earthquake fault.
During that process, the turtle pond was drained, and all wildlife was relocated to sanctuaries or placed into the pet industry after proper assessments and quarantining took place, according to previous Poly Post reports.
The design for the new outdoor space for students features new pathways, outdoor seating, patios and a generally more cohesive landscape that follows the same improvements made across campus in the last few years, according to John Hiatt, a gardening specialist, and Brian Lake, the manager of landscape services.
The refurbished turtle pond remains in the design, according to Lake.
Student safety has also been ensured in the design, according to Lake. It features brightly lighted pathways and will be a very open space with only one structure for maintaining the pond.
“There won’t be any structures other than a landscaping building on site, and the rest of it will be gathering places for students,” Boyer said.
There is a blue emergency button across the street from the park that complies with university standards, according to Boyer, but there is no plan to have one in the park.
While the plan is not finalized and is still undergoing feedback from all teams involved, the area is meant to be a space for students to feel safe and build connections.
“I think it’s a lot more user friendly and more open to the university as a whole instead of being mostly focused on housing,” Hiatt said. “I think it’s going to be a big improvement.”
The design includes appropriate steps to bring in safe environmental elements, including California native plants like wildflowers and poppies that don’t require over usage of water and foster wildlife appropriately. The turtles will also return to the pond but as of now, no fish are being added, according to Boyer and his team.
“Along with always caring about having climate appropriate plants for Southern California, we do have very up-to-date and the best irrigation technology that will carry into this area,” Lake said.
Feature image courtesy of Megan Sanders
