Town of Moraga Completes Amphitheater Lawn Sub-Drainage and Drought-Resilient Turf Upgrade at Moraga Commons

Town of Moraga Parks and Recreation Department crews reopened the lower perimeter walking path around the Moraga Commons Park amphitheater bowl on Friday morning at 1425 St. Marys Road and Moraga Road after completing a four-week sub-surface drainage and drought-resilient turf restoration in front of the historic wooden bandshell. Every summer, the terraced 1.8-acre hillside lawn hosts thousands of Lamorinda families for Thursday evening concerts, Fourth of July celebrations, and youth sports camps, which had compacted the underlying clay soil and caused winter rainwater to pool near the stage apron. Public works technicians trenched 950 linear feet of perforated gravel French drains beneath the bowl to channel winter runoff cleanly into Laguna Creek bio-retention swales.

After deep-tine aerating and amending the topsoil with fifty tons of organic compost, landscape contractors laid a custom California native sedge and dwarf tall-fescue sod blend developed at UC Davis that requires 35 percent less irrigation water than conventional Kentucky bluegrass while withstanding heavy foot traffic. Forty-two rotary sprinkler heads were upgraded with pressure-regulated, wind-resistant nozzles linked to a cellular soil-moisture controller.

At the base of the bandshell stage, carpenters also replaced twelve weathered redwood retaining-wall timbers along the seating terraces and installed a gently sloped decomposed-granite companion seating pad so patrons using wheelchairs can sit alongside family picnic blankets during concerts. Low-protective mesh fencing will remain around the center turf bowl for three more weeks while the new root zone knits together before Thanksgiving weekend recreation.

The $168,000 park improvement was funded through a $110,000 California Department of Parks and Recreation Per Capita grant matched with $58,000 in contributions from the Moraga Park Foundation. Residents can check picnic area availability, disc golf course maps, and winter recreation class listings on the Town of Moraga Parks and Recreation Portal.