SAN MARCOS -- A new, $13 million recreation area will make its public debut Monday when San Marcos officials hold a grand opening ceremony at Hollandia Park.

The public is invited to the 5 p.m. event, which will include a ribbon-cutting ceremony, a tour of the park, a home-run derby and skateboarding, horseshoe and wall-climbing demonstrations. The park is at 12 Mission Hills Court, tucked behind Mission Hills High School off Mission Road.

Named after the longtime dairy in whose former pasture it stands, Hollandia Park covers 30 acres and offers the usual playgrounds and picnic areas.

Visitors also will find two lighted softball fields, a lighted multipurpose field, an amphitheater, a dog park, horseshoe pits and more than 2 miles of trails. The park includes a climbing wall and the city's first skatepark, as well.

"It's going to be a fantastic park … because it has something for everybody," city Community Services Director Craig Sargent-Beach said Friday. "The park has so many different dimensions and activities, and the difference in the elevation of all of the activity areas helps to give it a really unique flavor. It gets great afternoon breezes in the summertime to keep it cool, and it has great vistas from above to look around the surrounding valley."

The park's completion will enable San Marcos to cross off one of several projects on a list designed to increase the amount of land dedicated to recreation and sports within the city. The city's master development plan calls for San Marcos to have 5 acres of parks for every 1,000 residents.

Recent years have seen San Marcos fall behind on that goal, and the city currently has about 180 acres of parks for more than 80,000 residents.

Hollandia Park's opening will bring the total to about 210 acres and give the city its first skatepark.

Finished early, the 7,200-square-foot amenity attracted skateboarders who sneaked in whenever they could before the skatepark even opened. Graffiti vandals also have shown an affinity for the facility.

Security cameras recently installed in Hollandia Park are expected to help with the problem. And a live-in caretaker recently moved into the park with his family.

Sargent-Beach said the city has arranged for a security guard to patrol the park for the first month or two after its opening, as well. A city park ranger, staff members from the high school and park users will provide additional sets of eyes.

"I think that's probably the biggest thing -- once it opens up, there will be more people out in the park using it, and they'll be there to help monitor," Sargent-Beach said.

A 2002 state law exempted cities from liability for injuries that people 14 and older might incur at an unsupervised skatepark, as long as posted signs notify users that they must wear protective gear. Children under 14 must be accompanied by a parent, under the law.

Sargent-Beach said city officials considered cost, as well as liability issues, before deciding to leave the skatepark unsupervised.

"I think once you supervise, you probably have to go to an admission-type fee to cover the cost of staffing," he said. "And then it's not free for the kids to go there anymore."

City Councilman Mike Preston said Hollandia Park is a good example of collaboration because the city and the San Marcos Unified School District worked together to come up with a side-by-side plan that lets the park and the high school share parking and other amenities.

He also said it becomes increasingly important to set land aside for green space and recreation as a city gets closer to being fully developed.

"It helps us retain kind of that rural atmosphere we once had," said Preston.

Contact staff writer Andrea Moss at (760) 739-6654 or amoss@nctimes.com.