San Diego County Seeks Request for Proposals to Operate New Equestrian Park in Lakeside.
After 10 years of numerous meetings, planning and more meetings, the long awaited 14-acre equestrian park is in the construction phase. Interested parties wishing to operate the 14-acre Dianne Jacob Equestrian Park in Lakeside have been invited to apply on the County’s website.
The project came about in 2012, when San Diego County sent out a notice of a possible soccer park going in at the corner of Moreno Ave and Willow Road. The local residents turned out in large numbers to weigh in on the idea. Many of the equestrians didn’t feel the rural setting of the valley was appropriate for a soccer park. After much back and forth County Supervisor Dianne Jacob suggested an equestrian center instead. This suggestion was met with a lot of enthusiasm and a 501(c)(3) was established to move the equestrian project along. A group of volunteers formed the East County Equestrian Foundation and began to help San Diego County Parks come up with a design to host horse shows, agricultural events, dog and community events, farmer’s markets and more.
The history of ECEF is on their website originally set up as www.LakesideEquestrianPark.com and now ECEF is moving to their new URL: www.EastCountyEquestrian.com. Information about the progress on the park will be posted on the website and updated as news about the operator is released to the public. They also will alert the horse community via their FB page – https://www.facebook.com/EastCountyEquestrianFoundation.
December 31st is the last day to get a brick in the park, which is one of the many fundraisers ECEF held to help promote the facility and raise awareness. Bricks can be ordered on the website.
The County of San Diego decided to name the park the “Dianne Jacob Equestrian Park” Last month they issued a Request for Proposals for the lease and operation of the park. All pertinent information and documents related to this leasing opportunity are posted at the County’s SDCRE “Leasing Opportunities” website and this is the link to the RFP: https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/sdc/general_services/Real_Estate/Leasing_Opp/RES_LO_DJEP.html.