The Isla Vista Recreation & Park District celebrated breaking ground for the first time in 20 years in front of the prospective “Peaceful Pardall” park on April 11, marking the start of the park’s awaited reconstruction. The ceremony featured a live performance from the street brass band Brasscals and bubbles from SB Bubble Guy.

IVRPD partnered with PCLD for the project and engaged in a series of approvals and permits to make the project happen. Courtesy of IVRPD

The ceremony started at 9:30 a.m. with a performance by Brasscals, followed by a celebratory cake-cutting. The ground-breaking is a milestone for the formal construction of Peaceful Pardall, a 720-square-foot parkland on Pardall Road, and is part of the Pardall Gardens Renovation Project, which began in November 2021 after a community survey by Isla Vista Recreation & Park District (IVRPD) to vote on park designs.

“We really wanted to honor the process, which, building a park takes a lot. It takes community. It takes a lot of permits,” IVRPD General Manager Kimberly Kiefer said. “So giving back to the people, community, by having an opportunity to celebrate this moment is so important.”

Elected officials, along with Kiefer, delivered speeches at the ceremony. 

Santa Barbara County Second District Supervisor Laura Capps, District Representative for Congressman Salud Carbajal Esmeralda Estrada, Office of Senator Monique Limón representative Ian Bauke, California State Assembly District Director Ethan Bertrand representing Assemblymember Gregg Hart and IVRPD Board Chair Ash Valenti commemorated the IVRPD and community for their work on the project. 

Capps stated efforts for the project required “years of input” from “hundreds of people” which would be reflected in the park’s opening.

“It’s really a celebration of the intersection of [UC Santa Barbara] and Isla Vista,” Capps said. 

The ceremony was open to the public, providing baked goods, coffee and water for community members passing by. Fourth-year sociology major Miguel Ocegueda expressed his excitement about the park’s construction and its benefit for families living in the area. 

“I recognized how important it is to have those spaces for kids in the community, to be able to just go out there and have fun. Just yesterday, we went to the park, and my cousin’s dad was complaining about the conditions of it, and I think it’s just a happy coincidence that the next day, I was able to find that they’re gonna hopefully make this one,” Ocegueda said. 

According to the project brief, the Pardall Gardens Renovation Project is funded by the Recreational Revenue Infrastructure Enhancement Grant, the Per Capita Grant and Measure O to create a park with decomposed granite walkways, a wooden deck, shade structure, tree and xeriscape planting, benches, picnic tables, bar-top seating lighting and a gathering area called the “paver plaza.”

IVRPD partnered with Pacific Coast Land Design (PCLD) for the project and engaged in a series of approvals and permits to make the project happen.

“Isla Vista is considered an unincorporated area despite having 20,000 people living here. So the permitting process is a little different than if you were to be in a regular city. And so we went with the Santa Barbara County [Building & Safety Division] … and they helped us along the way,” IVRPD Assistant General Manager Luis Valerio said. 

The park’s concept was planned to promote a natural and quiet space for the I.V. community. Capps spoke on the benefit of having parks such as Peaceful Pardall available for students to gather and appreciate nature in a learning environment.

“College students are here in a learning environment, and you learn better if you’re infused with some nature, and you’re also in an environment that shows people care about the environment, that there’s intention behind it, that there’s upkeep, that there’s thought that goes behind your open spaces and shared spaces,” Capps said.  

The ceremony ended at 10:30 a.m. with another Brasscals performance. Kiefer expects the park to have its grand opening by October this year, with hopes that the park will bring community members together.

“I encourage people to really remember that parks are theirs and that people need to care about public spaces. They need to make sure that parks are preserved. Open spaces are meant to be open. A happy park is a safe park, and it’s an opportunity to meet people we might not have met before,” Kiefer said.