SLO County beach town opens new-and-improved park overlooking ocean
Morro Bay beachgoers have access to a waterfront playground again.
On Friday, the city of Morro Bay unveiled a new-and-improved Coleman Park overlooking the bay.
The park still includes a swing set, but now, visitors can also enjoy a slide, four picnic tables, accessible parking and paths, cobblestone seat walls, bike racks, a drinking fountain and a kayak wash station, city engineer Nate Stong said.
Eventually, the city will open new public bathrooms at the park when PG&E connects power to the building. The city did not yet have a date for when the bathrooms will open, Stong said.
The $1.4 million project has been in the works for years.
In June 2021, the city demolished the prior restroom due to structural issues, he said.
Then, between 2021 and 2022, the city secured about $700,000 in grant funding to improve the restroom and playground, but the city paused the project to work on other priorities, according to a news release from the city.
In February, the city hired contractor J Bruce Kies to complete the project.
Finally, on March 16, construction on the park began, Stong said.
On May 14, the city’s other contractor, CTX, installed a 75,000-pound prefabricated restroom at the park, the release said. The structure was built in Texas, and the contractor needed to use a crane to place it on the waterfront.
The city paid for the project with grant funding, the deferred maintenance fund, community development funds, the park fee fund, development impact fees and Proposition 68 funding, according to a city staff report.
The park is located at 101 Coleman Drive on the boardwalk leading to Morro Rock.
