Ecstatic Students Revel in Newly Renovated Eastside Park

City of Santa Barbara Adds New Play Equipment and Fitness Equipment

Students from Franklin Elementary jump onto the new play equipment at the Eastside Neighborhood Park. | Credit: Margaux Lovely

An ecstatic group of children from Franklin Elementary School accompanied their principal and teachers to a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the newly renovated Eastside Neighborhood Park next door to their school. Franklin’s pupils showed up on Thursday with fire in their bellies — pouncing on the new playground equipment with screams of excitement before the red ribbon even made it into City of Santa Barbara officials’ hands.

When asked what the Franklin Elementary students thought about the new park, young Sophia responded, “It’s wonderful. Just wonderful.”

“Not every kid has a beautiful backyard with mulch and grass to go home to,” said Franklin Elementary’s principal of 15 years, Casie Killgore. “Our kids need these green spaces.”

Santa Barbara Mayor Randy Rowse cuts the ribbon to open the park officially, with the help of city officials and Franklin students. | Credit: Margaux Lovely

The new recreational space is now complete with two playgrounds, each tailored toward different age groups, an ADA-accessible walking path, adult fitness equipment, and a revamped turf and irrigation system. The project began at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the park had tables at which card-playing drinkers would spend the evenings — not considered a good mix for families and children. The problems that arose inspired the city’s push to make this space a pleasant and safe one for Eastside families. Councilmember Alejandra Gutierrez emphasized that, saying, “Improving my own neighborhood is the best part of being a council member.”

This ceremony came following a slew of protests regarding the status of the Yanonali Community Garden, a group of adjacent rentable garden plots that were impacted by the new park arrangements. As a result of this renovation, families are only allowed to rent one plot per household as opposed to the previous two, though plot sizes remained the same. Gardeners continued to hammer away on their plots during the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Correction: The city allowed one plot per family at all community gardens in 2023 due to the increased demand for garden spots, Jazmin LeBlanc of city Parks & Rec later told the Independent. The size of plots at Yanonali remained the same; they were not reduced as originally reported in this story.