California State Parks selected the Lompoc College Park Renovation project as one of 112 park grant projects it will be funding statewide.
The proposed College Park design features a completely redone skate park, a playground and game area, basketball courts, a picnic area, landscaping, lighting for extended use, and security cameras, Lompoc Recreation Manager Mario Guerrero Jr. said.
“It was a long application process with community outreach; it was a true team effort across the board to be able to be a successful grant applicant,” Guerrero Jr. said.
The city held a series of virtual and in-person meetings in late 2020 and early 2021 to gather community input for College Park designs as part of the city’s grant application process. Residents were invited to take an online survey and compare park project designs through interactive design tools that were available to the public, he added.
“Our goal is to make it a community park for everyone in the neighborhood. We are excited that the neighborhood is getting something that will benefit all ages and abilities,” Guerrero Jr. said.
One of the takeaways included renovating the skate park, which was highlighted by community members and local partners like the surf and skate shop Surf Connection.
“Surf Connection really brought out the skate community to participate in the community outreach,” Guerrero Jr. said. “The skate park is over 20 years old, there’s been new design elements the community has been excited for, and the community’s been using the same one for many years.”
He said the park’s current layout has the skate park in the middle with grass and trees around it and nothing else in the park.
“The skate park was a byproduct of enhancing the park in order for the community to enjoy it. Our goal was to enhance the community’s access throughout the day for all ages and abilities. That’s why we focused on adding the playground, basketball courts, concrete pingpong tables, cornhole, and enhancing the skate park as well. They are different things for those in that area of town,” Guerrero Jr. continued.
The $3.6 million grant comes from the California Drought, Water, Parks, Climate, Coastal Protection, and Outdoor Access for All Act of 2018 (Proposition 68), and is part of State Parks’ Statewide Park Development and Community Revitalization Program. The grant also looked at median incomes, and whether an area has fewer than 3 acres per 1,000 residents, he said.
“The grant was geared to help low-income and underserved areas; being a competitive grant, we scored well in the area of income, and [because] there’s less than a half-acre of park land per 1,000 residents,” Guerrero Jr. explained.
There’s currently no specific timeline for the park’s renovation, but the recreation department hopes to break ground by 2023. There will be continued community engagement on certain features on the skate park and the playground.
“We’re very excited and hopeful for the community. I’ve been working here for 20 years, it’s the first time that we’ve been able to get a new park from top to bottom. I’m just happy to be a part of it,” Guerrero Jr. said.
This article appears in Dec 16-23, 2021.