Park with views of Morro Rock is getting a major upgrade. Here’s what could be in store
A new playground, a trail and a concessions building with restrooms are among the improvements that could be coming to a Morro Bay park, thanks to a new California State Parks grant.
The city of Morro Bay will get $600,000 from State Parks to develop Coleman Park, which is wedged between the bay and Coleman Drive as it curves toward Morro Rock.
State Parks is investing a total of $46.2 million “to build healthier communities by creating and improving recreational facilities in 25 local parks,” according to a Aug. 22 news release.
Funded by Proposition 68 through the Rural Recreation and Tourism and Regional Park Programs, the grants awarded will be used to “enhance outdoor recreational facilities such as trails, campgrounds, multisports fields, skate and bike parks, and picnic areas.
“We’re really excited” that the Coleman Park project was selected for grant funding, said Greg Kwolek, the city’s public works director.
The state grant will pair with another state grant funded by Proposition 68, Kwolek said.
That $177,000 grant, which the city already has in hand, is intended to help replace public restroom facilities that were condemned last year and had to be destroyed.
The park currently has a trailer with restroom facilities in it.
Kowlek added that the city has some other funding set aside for the project and officials will continue seeking other funds, including a possible grant from the California Coastal Conservancy.
What is Coleman Park?
According to the city of Morro Bay, Coleman Park gets its name from Arthur E. Coleman, who began efforts in the early 1950s “to get the Morro Bay Harbor dredged, connect a road from Morro Rock to the waterfront area, now named the Embarcadero, and to build a waterfront park for children and visiting families.”
In 1979, the city began a land acquisition process with the California State Coastal Conservancy to obtain approximately nine acres of “privately owned land ranging from Target Rock to the Embarcadero, which included the Coleman Park area.”
After that, the city and the California Conservation Corps began a restoration project to add signage, a children’s play area and picnic and barbecue areas.
For a time, the Morro Bay Skate Park was located in that area, but the facility was moved recently to the Morro Bay Teen Center.
Coleman Park’s current facilities include a handful of picnic tables and swing set, with a basketball court on one end of the park and two unpaved parking areas. A massive evergreen tree sits right in the middle of the park, providing shade and natural charm.
Despite killer views of the bay, the Morro Bay shoreline and Morro Rock, Coleman Park remains underused.
Nearly all the visitors to the area “just walk right past the park, not into it,” Kwolek said.
On a cool, sunny Wednesday, the only people in the park were a couple from Nipomo, celebrating their 41st wedding anniversary on a daytrip capped by an impromptu noontime picnic at one of the picnic tables.
“We’ve never stopped here before,” Robyn Myli said, because they usually keep going down the road toward Morro Rock.
How could Morro Bay park be improved?
Earlier this year, Morro Bay officials asked community members what they want the city to do with Coleman Park.
Park planners held two onsite meetings “with no ulterior motives” or must-have elements in mind, Kwolek said. As a result, “we got concepts on many different park amenities,” he said.
Proposed improvements to Coleman Park include exercise fitness stations, “three cultural/historical sites, a concession building with a restrooms and a parking lot,” according to the grant announcement.
According to Kwolek, one of the most requested additions to Coleman Park was a gazebo or stage area.
“People could come up in a kayak on the bay and listen to live music” at the same time as landbound concertgoers, he said. “It was almost a unanimous vision.”
There could also be a playground with a natural design, as opposed to “those red and yellow plastic ones,” Kwolek said with a chuckle.
Deciding which upgrades make the final cut “will again be, to an extent, a public process,” Kwolek said, with more meetings.
“Coleman Park is such an ideal location,” Kwolek said. “We want to create a special experience at the park for residents and visitors.”
This story was originally published August 26, 2022 at 10:48 AM.
