The Valley is now home to the best park in the country after McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park in Scottsdale won this year’s #ELGLKnope Best Park & Open Space competition.
The award, named after Leslie Knope from NBC’s popular show "Parks and Rec," has been around for several years and has grown to be a prestigious title in local governments across the country.
McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park has been a community staple in the Valley since 1975.
“This place has probably been here longer than I have" said Scottsdale resident and park-goer Bob Leiber. "We probably started coming here over 30 years ago with my two daughters.”
Leiber is continuing that tradition now with his grandchildren.
“To ride the train and play around, it’s always been a great park,” said Leiber.
Back in the 70s, the plot of land that's now a railroad-themed park was worth a million dollars. But rather than sell it, the McCormick family of McCormick Ranch donated the property to the city of Scottsdale.
“Guy Stillman was the son of the McCormicks and he was avid train enthusiast,’ said Nick Molinari, the park's managing operator.
The McCormicks gave this generous gift with one condition:“That the city of Scottsdale would develop a railroad park,” said Molinari.
To this day the park is a fully equipped railroad, with a steam locomotive and railroad engineers, now spanning 30 acres at the center of Scottsdale. The park draws in more than a million visitors each year.
The park beat out more than 30 other publicly owned spaces from across the U.S. to win the competition.