Campo Road in Casa de Oro, looking east. Photo: Jason Kardos via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Two San Diego County communities that waited a long time for public space got it this month, one in a library twice the size of the old branch and the other in a park that took more than two decades to finish.
Casa de Oro: a library designed with the neighbors
About 700 people turned out on Saturday, Oct. 17, for the grand opening of the new Casa de Oro Library at 9610 Campo Road in Spring Valley, according to the County News Center. Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe, the board’s vice chair, joined San Diego County Library staff for the ribbon-cutting.
The branch it replaces opened in 2002. The new one is about 12,000 square feet, double the previous size, with a 2,000-square-foot community room, study rooms for teens and adults, a homework center, a children’s area and a used bookstore run by the Friends of the Casa de Oro Library. There are laptops, printing and 3D printers. Outside are two patios, one for children and one named the Poet’s Patio.
Residents had a hand in the details. Meetings and surveys started in spring 2023, and local teenagers sat down with the interior designer in summer 2024 to choose colors, fixtures and furniture for their own space. Six regional artists, including Wendell Kling, Beliz Iristay and muralist Maxx Moses, made site-specific pieces after the public weighed in on their proposals.
Construction by EC Constructors began with a groundbreaking on Feb. 21, 2025. The building runs on solar panels, captures rainwater in an underground container for reuse and has EV chargers, a bike locker and a native-plant demonstration garden. The county is pursuing LEED Gold certification. The branch is open Monday through Saturday and closed Sundays.
Mira Mesa: phase two, finally
On the other side of the county, Mira Mesa Community Park is fully open after a $55 million second phase that the city completed on schedule and within budget at the start of the month.
The work covered the 17 acres south of New Salem Street. The centerpiece is an aquatic complex with a 14-lane competition pool, an activity pool and a splash pad. There is also an all-wheel plaza open to skateboards, roller skates, scooters, bikes and wheelchairs, two children’s play areas, two multi-use sports courts, open lawn and new lighting and walkways. The Mira Mesa Gil Johnson Recreation Center got a new roof, new heating and air conditioning, repaired woodwork and fresh paint.
“When community leaders came to me in 2022 and asked the City to help fund Phase II, Mira Mesa had already been waiting more than 20 years for these improvements,” Mayor Todd Gloria said at the celebration. Council President Pro Tem Kent Lee, who represents District 6, called it “a once-in-a-generation project.”
Almost all of the money came from development impact fees paid in Mira Mesa, the charges builders pay to cover the public facilities their projects will need. All of the funds were allocated before the city’s fiscal 2027 budget.
The park also has a new landmark. “Songs of Mira Mesa,” a large sculpture by artist Kate Clark, doubles as a shade structure, gathering spot and performance pavilion. Its imagery was developed with the Mira Mesa Art Teen Fellows, drawing on local leaders, educators, cosmologists and naturalists.
Phase one, finished in 2018, rebuilt about 11 acres north of New Salem Street with baseball fields, a play area and a comfort station. A third phase is still being planned and is expected to expand the recreation center itself.
For residents who don’t have a card yet, our guide to getting a San Diego library card explains how to sign up.
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