Episode 4: District56 What is it? Why you should visit.

Anchored in the heart of Elk Grove, 56 acres inspire celebration and connection. Community Event Center Manager Lana Yoshimura shares some of the details about District56, the city’s newest gathering space, and the amenities and local partners who are part of this unique public facility. John and Kristyn also discuss the September 11 anniversary, share a bit about the Elk Grove Multicultural Festival, and discuss ways that Explore Elk Grove and Sky River Casino are contributing to Elk Grove’s quality of life. 

Transcript

Announcer: 0:01

Welcome to Elk Grove City cast, the podcast about Elk

John Hull: 0:16

Hi, everybody, I'm John Hull. Welcome to the Oak Joining me every city cast is Kristyn Laurence, the city's

Kristyn Laurence: 0:56

Yeah, I don't think there's really anyone that

John Hull: 1:04

You know, we remember and I'm going to read your we those called emojis of of a fire truck, a police car and an too. Did one of your graphics people in your office do that?

Kristyn Laurence: 1:53

Absolutely. One of our very talented

John Hull: 1:57

If you remember that the one thing that sticks out, our country. And let's remember those who lost their lives that neighbor from across the street. And before you knew it, we had

Kristyn Laurence: 2:57

It was a very unifying moment for the country know, as a young mom with small children trying to figure out time it was it was a lot like it right, like you just knew where

John Hull: 3:49

That's true. That in the moon landing, those are the that an annual event for the city of Elk Grove.

Kristyn Laurence: 4:15

So Elk Grove is one of the region's most City Council back in 2011 had saw what our diversity meant to event. Even during the pandemic we had some version of an online enjoying all of the festivities. But it's it's an opportunity for Elk Grove and the very best that they have to offer. And so we And so we've had some other festivities leading up to that artwork. And we really enjoyed seeing everyone enjoying

John Hull: 6:24

And do you know speaking of this festival being It's been around a while here in Elk Grove district 56 located Citycast.

Lana Yoshimura: 7:08

Nice to be here. Thanks for inviting me.

John Hull: 7:10

Well, you have the opportunity to tell some of us

Lana Yoshimura: 7:18

I think of District 56 as a third space. So choose to go to. It could be concerts, it could be cafes,

John Hull: 7:44

Okay, you know, I was looking up some archives in the children's museum, library, and a botanical garden/nature

Lana Yoshimura: 8:16

Most of those facilities are actually was The Preserve, which opened in 2021. The fourth phase is we're able to operate before we started the next part of the

John Hull: 8:55

Well, the center has been described as a wedding

Lana Yoshimura: 9:06

Yes, we are doing great business with lots different events that are happening. 12 different private

John Hull: 9:32

Good. Tell tell us what the Avenue of the Arts is.

Lana Yoshimura: 9:37

The Avenue of the Arts is a large open space visual arts, and the performing arts. This a space where the

John Hull: 10:09

Okay. I saw something on your website called the

Lana Yoshimura: 10:15

The Neighborhood Market is a partnership with an

John Hull: 10:27

All right. Now, you know, for many years, the Senior

Lana Yoshimura: 10:41

The Senior Center is one of our nonprofit Friday. They have a variety of classes, from music to fitness

John Hull: 11:11

I hear it's a mean place for cribbage too.

Lana Yoshimura: 11:14

Bunco is usually their game. Sorry, don't want to

John Hull: 11:19

That's true. That one too. All right. So we also have

Lana Yoshimura: 11:22

Certainly. we have....keeping with our space here. Their membership generally meets here as well as Center. We've brought a counselor down here once a week

John Hull: 12:12

Okay. You know, one of the most used facilities of course, there's a lot of people that just love to swim

Lana Yoshimura: 12:41

Well, like you said, John, swimming is becoming very popular. We have two home teams here the Elk Grove water slides. So our capacity is about 1200 people during an open aerobics as well as aqua jogging or aqua spin, Aqua spin. Those

John Hull: 13:46

I'm just curious, is there a is there a charge if you

Lana Yoshimura: 13:54

There is actually a charge. Those fees

John Hull: 14:11

Okay, that's great. You know, neighbors of mine have it is. Here in the middle of Elk Grove, we have this natural

Lana Yoshimura: 14:43

The majority of it is actually natural and it 56. As an overview, you have all the active uses the community actually was kept pretty natural. We did put in things including the pistachio orchard, which is part of the farmstead

John Hull: 15:38

And let me ask, yeah, but you did add some aerators in

Lana Yoshimura: 15:51

Yeah, aerators actually serve a variety of how we want to preserve this, we try to use as minimal of aerators help to move the water so algae doesn't build up in

John Hull: 16:31

I noticed the signs, the frequent signs, that said to it looks like about two or three inches long is that true?

Lana Yoshimura: 16:55

We do try to cut some of that down. You also want to keep the grass down. A lot of the areas that are habitat

John Hull: 17:27

Yeah, I noticed on your website, the trees, plus the Arroyo Willow. So you have quite a quite a number of

Lana Yoshimura: 17:50

Yes, and then they're also indigenous to the this area. One, it would be difficult to maintain. And solar arrays. So, there is an a place that's near the pond, that what was existing in the region.

John Hull: 18:45

Yeah, you've done a wonderful job there. It's been

Lana Yoshimura: 18:55

We have a we always have a lot going on, run. As we move into the fall, we're looking at having a Dia de Cafe Elk Grove, grab a cup of coffee, walk The Preserve and

John Hull: 19:38

Well. It's been interesting Lana Yoshimura,

Lana Yoshimura: 19:46

Thank you. Have a great day.

John Hull: 19:54

Each Citycast, I ask Kristyn questions that I have PublicAffairs@elkgrovecity.org. That's Friday, September 22. So I was curious about the relationship

Kristyn Laurence: 20:48

Okay, well, Explore Elk Grove is its own directors and a staff that are committed to promoting and and wineries in our area. And guests have a chance to learn few general admission spots that are still available. And people

John Hull: 21:50

And I might add that they have also produced a couple centerpiece photo recently in an issue that Elk Grove Citizen was

Kristyn Laurence: 22:30

Sure. So Sky River Casino just celebrated going to be made as part of a Memorandum of Understanding partners provide these funds to support city services like looking check was helping reinforce that they are fantastic.

John Hull: 23:43

Yeah, it's a lot of money. Well, and well needed talk about the city's code enforcement department and all

Announcer: 24:15

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