Mountain House has officially broken ground on South Community Park, a 23.8-acre site along South Central Parkway that city officials anticipate will become the city's largest community park upon completion. The $50 million project is expected to be finished by spring 2028 and sits directly across from the San Joaquin Delta College Mountain House campus.
The groundbreaking ceremony, held on October 14 at the park site, was attended by council members and other officials. The park's future amenities are slated to include soccer fields, cricket pitches, basketball courts, beach volleyball, picnic areas, playgrounds, and a dedicated dog park.
Mountain House Mayor Andy Su, a long-time resident and youth sports coach in the city, stated that the new park will provide families with more opportunities to play and spend time together. Councilmember Bernice King Tingle also participated in the ceremony.
The park's design was developed with significant community input. Before finalizing the layout, the City of Mountain House surveyed 864 residents. Their top priorities, which were integrated into the master renderings, included walking and jogging trails, picnic gathering areas, playgrounds, and multipurpose sports fields.
South Community Park is one of three community parks outlined in the city's comprehensive parks plan, each interconnected by pedestrian and bicycle paths. Additionally, each of Mountain House's 12 neighborhoods features its own dedicated neighborhood park. This structured approach to parkland traces back to original planning documents adopted in 1994, which envisioned a 4,784-acre community comprising 12 planned neighborhoods, each with a neighborhood park and a K–8 school.
The city's master plan mandates more than 10 acres of parkland per 1,000 residents, exceeding double the five-acre standard set by San Joaquin County requirements and national norms. Mountain House's pedestrian pathway network was designed to offer residents automobile-free access to neighborhoods, parks, and schools.
Gerry Kamilos, one of Mountain House's original developers through Kamilos Companies, indicated that the new park embodies the vision established in the city's foundational plan. Kamilos, who worked to assemble the land over two decades ago, envisioned a community where children could bike or walk from preschool through community college.
This vision of continuous walkable infrastructure was a point of emphasis for Mike Sandhu of Mountain House developers, who used the groundbreaking event to urge both the city and San Joaquin Delta College to fulfill promised bond money for expanding the college's Mountain House campus. San Joaquin County voters approved Measure K in November 2024, a $598 million bond measure that includes funding for Delta College to replace temporary portable classrooms with permanent technology facilities at its Mountain House campus. College leadership has identified the Mountain House campus among its top funding priorities.
The park's groundbreaking occurs amidst a period of rapid development for the city. Mountain House formally incorporated as California's 483rd city in July 2024, and by January 1, 2026, its population had grown to 30,687, representing a 5.6% annual growth rate that made it the state's fourth fastest-growing city. This population surge is influencing city plans, including its first official General Plan update.
South Community Park is not the only recent investment in recreation for Mountain House. In July, the city opened its first dedicated 1.25-acre dog park within Central Community Park. This was part of a Phase 2 expansion that also introduced championship tennis courts and an outdoor amphitheater along Main Street, with the dog park featuring separate areas for large and small dogs. Construction crews are expected to continue working on South Community Park through spring 2028, mirroring the area's ongoing residential and civic expansion.
