With help from neighborhood volunteers and a group of rose-lovers, the rose garden at McKinley Park will be getting a facelift this fall.

The 1.5-acre rose garden, which was originally planted in 1928, will be closed from September to mid-February for renovations, including a new irrigation system, accessible walkways, planter curbs, new signs and accessible parking spaces near the garden entrance.

According to a recent historical assessment, the 83-year-old garden has not been upgraded or improved for several decades except for the rose arbors, which were replaced five years ago.

“This may be the first time (the rose garden) has ever been given this much attention,” said Claudia Bordin, a member of the McKinley East Sac Neighborhood Association.

“It’s a landmark,” Bordin said. “It’s beautiful, and people come from all over the place to see it.”

Dennis Day, a landscape architect with the Parks Department, said a construction contract has not officially been awarded for the project, but Parks Department staff will bring one to the City Council for approval in late August.

The project, estimated to cost approximately $238,000, is funded by a combination of park improvement funds and cell tower revenues from the city, along with private donations of materials and labor.

The donated materials and labor will be used for planting new rose bushes when the construction phase is complete.

“The garden was looking very tired,” said Councilman Steve Cohn, representative of District 3 where McKinley park is located. “Some of the bushes were getting very old, and weeds were becoming an increasing problem to deal with.”

The master plan for improvements in the rose garden calls for keeping the same overall design while upgrading the irrigation, adding mow curbs to separate the grass from the rose beds making them easier to maintain, and installing paved walkways to allow for greater access to people with disabilities.

Cohn said that, from an aesthetic standpoint, the garden will look the same after the renovations are complete, but it will be updated and easier to maintain.

“It’s a very elegant pattern and design,” Cohn said. “It was very clear that while everyone supported modernizing a bit, they wanted to be sure we didn’t change the historic design of it. That was very important.”

Cohn said the Sacramento Rose Society donated rose bushes, plants, and the labor to remove older rose bushes and plant new roses. The Sacramento Rose Society will also maintain the roses in the years following the renovations.

“I’m excited that we’re able to do a partnership with the Sacramento Rose Society and some of the neighborhood groups to leverage both public and private dollars, and to include a lot of volunteer effort,” Cohn said.

Private funding also came from the Friends of East Sacramento. New signage at the rose garden was purchased to match the signs at the entrance of the park at Alhambra Boulevard and H Street, and the front of the Clunie Community Center.

“I love the park,” Bordin said. “I walk my dog in the park, and neighbors have a volunteer work day once a month on a Saturday to rake and do a cleanup. I care about (the garden), and I know I’m not the only neighbor who does.”

Kurt Campbell, a realtor and homeowner who has lived in the neighborhood for nearly 30 years, said he agrees.

“I keep finding out new things about it,” Campbell said. “There’s a lot of charm there.”

According to park staff, there are currently about 60 or 70 species of roses represented in the garden, along with a variety of large and small trees and blooming annuals.

“The rose garden is a legacy that was left to us,” Cohn said. “When it’s finished, people will see that it’s going to last into the next century.”

Melissa Corker is a Staff Reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.