LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Community members are invited to take part in a special meeting next week to discuss the design of Lake County’s newest park.

The public outreach meeting for the new John T. Klaus Park will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 27, at the East Lake Elementary School cafeteria and gymnasium, located at 13050 High Valley Road in Clearlake Oaks.

The John T. Klaus Park will be located east of Clearlake Oaks along Highway 20, between the quarry and the Moose Lodge.

The 584-acre property — which until recently was home to llamas, horses and ponies that grazed the pastures along the highway — was donated to Lake County.

“It’s amazing,” Deputy Public Services Director Kati Galvani said of the property, which she said is beautiful.

Galvani told Lake County News there are “endless” possibilities for the new park property.

At its meeting on Nov. 1, 2022, the Board of Supervisors approved the property donation and funds to support the project from the John T. Klaus 1994 Trust following a few years of work to get the transfer finalized which had been held up due to the trust’s previous attorney having died.

“I think it's an opportunity that doesn't come along very often,” Public Services Director Lars Ewing told the board at that time, comparing it with the Mount Konocti Park that the county purchased.

Ewing said that, unlike the Mount Konocti Park, the Klaus park comes not just with property but with funding.

Galvani said this week that the Klaus donation specifically requires that the property be used for a park — and that it be named for him — with a youth sporting activity component. Another requirement is that a third of the land at the back of the property be used for a wildlife refuge.

Public Services, which is overseeing the park, has hired a landscape architect to work on the project, Galvani explained.

She said they have a proposed plan informed by what the parks, recreation and trails master plan showed that people want — and what the county needs — in a park facility.

“So now we have this preliminary plan, which is very basic,” she said.

That basic plan will be a topic of discussion at the Aug. 27 meeting, Galvani said.

Galvani said community members are urged to come and share their thoughts on the park and the plan.

“We want them to tell us what they would like to see in a park on that property,” she said, noting, “We just want to do what the people want.”

Galvani visited the park property with county officials and Redwood Audubon members, and said they were in awe of its beauty and the possibilities.

She noted the opportunities for activities like hiking and bird watching.

“It’s beautiful up there,” she said.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.