Corn Palace Park opens in Sunnyvale at historic site of former farm

Sunnyvale s th general park opened last week at the site of the Corn Palace a family-owned farm that had operated for more than half a century before closing in Located just to the west of Lawrence Expressway at Lilly Lane and White Oak Street the -acre Corn Palace Park is now available for use In Sunnyvale bought the land needed for the general park which is situated alongside a new growth of single-family homes by Trumark Homes That project has since been completed Construction for Corn Palace Park began in December The farm which produced corn along with other fruits and vegetables was owned and operated by brothers Ben and Joe Francia starting in the s Despite the area s urbanization throughout the latter half of the th century the brothers had no intentions of selling their high-value land to developers according to a Metro article from Joe Francia died in and Ben Francia died in Members of the Francia family were present at the park s grand opening on Friday We are fortunate to have a great number of fond memories of this land and what it did for our families and society revealed Ben Francia s grandson Gabriel Francia We are excited that the Corn Palace will be a place for you to build new memories of your own On behalf of the entire Francia family we thank you for honoring the Corn Palace landmark s continuous legacy through Corn Palace Park Aspects of the park are designed to reflect the farm s history One playground structure resembles a farm stand complete with pictures of fruits and vegetables A corn silo placed atop a playground slide displays the phrase Valley of the Heart s Delight a nod to the area s agricultural history Park amenities include an open lawn area playgrounds a pollinator garden a shade structure and picnic area bench seating seatwalls shade trees planters fencing and stormwater medication areas The city will soon be adding more benches to the park as well as community art installations city spokesperson Rachel Davis notified this news organization Mayor Larry Klein called the park a place where the kernels of our public come together in something truly a-maze-ing