The State of California Budget Act 2022/23 includes several key investments in parks and open spaces. Mendocino County has been allocated $2,200,000 from monies set aside for local assistance grants.

On January 24, 2023, the Board of Supervisors (Board) adopted a resolution approving the application for specified grant funds from the State of California Budget Act 2022/23 (Sec 19.56 (A) (8) A(BG) in the amount of $2,200,000 for Bower Park Restoration Project.  On April 25, 2023, the Board approved the revenue Grant Agreement with State of California Natural Resources Agency Department of Parks and Recreation for General Fund Specified Grant for Bower Park Restoration, in the amount of $2,200,000, effective upon full execution through June 30, 2026.

On June 15, 2023, the County received the fully executed Grant Agreement back from the State which provides the County the authority to proceed with the park improvements in compliance with the grant guidelines. The County submitted a project application which includes the scope(s) of work, project timelines and budgets to the State of California Natural Resources Agency Department of Parks and Recreation on July 25, 2023.  

In August of 2023, the County issued Request for Proposal (RFP) 046-23 seeking qualified Professional Landscape Architecture firms to support the Facilities and Fleet Division in completing the design of the Bower Park Restoration Project.

On November 7, 2023, the Board approved an agreement with Integra Planning and Landscape Architecture, Inc. (Integra) for professional landscape architecture services required to complete the Bower Park Restoration and Improvement Project. 

On November 17, 2023, County staff and Integra held an on site kick off meeting to discuss the project and begin development of an implementation plan that will include a prioritized phased in approach based on the Parks Needs Assessment (both Phases I and II) conducted in 2019 & 2022, with identified critical safety hazards in the first priority phase.  Each phase of the park improvement project will include community engagement; primarily, the County will be focused on addressing the critical safety issues but will be seeking community input in prioritizing other areas noted below.  Those include, but are not limited to:

Phase I: Hazardous tree removal, which is eligible for CEQA exemption and poses the greatest safety risk, will be the addressed in the initial phase of the project which is anticipated to be completed in spring of 2024. 

Phase II: All remaining work will be subject to environmental review before work can begin and will be designed with community input as a single phase of the project. This will include prioritized safety work such as removal or repair of other hazards including the spillway crossing, fencing and the amphitheater stage; required improvements like ADA accessibility, electrical and plumbing system upgrades and/or replacement, drainage and access road Improvements, security lighting and safety improvements to the playgrounds along with desired upgrades to park features such as drinking fountains, parking, restrooms, storage, basketball and tennis courts, the ballfield and amphitheater.  This phase will include community input with prioritization subject to available funding, design & engineering, environmental review and determinations before bidding and construction can begin.

January 16, 2024: The first phase of the Bower Park Restoration and Improvement Grant Project is well underway.  Phase I includes site visits to confirm trees that are dead, dying, diseased and suppressed trees that will be removed as part of the hazardous tree removal.  In all, approximately 225 trees have been determined hazardous and will be removed, some stump grinding will occur.  Plans will be finalized January 2024, and the environmental documentation is in process.  Once the emergency exemption is approved, the County will seek public bids for the tree removal project  from all eligible contractors.  Work is expected to get underway in early spring, 2024.

February 16, 2024: The first phase of the Bower Park Restoration and Improvement Grant Project has been completed and will be publicly bid starting later this month.  We expect to award a contract in May.  While we are waiting for the first phase to get into construction, our County and park design team will be conducting an online survey of the community to learn more about priorities for the users of Bower Park.  The online survey will be open until March 15, 2024, please encourage your neighbors to take the survey!  On April 6, 2024 at 1:00 pm, the park design team will be hosting a community meeting at the Gualala Arts Center to present the findings of the survey, required park repairs and rehabilitation projects (beyond tree removal) and hear more from the community on desired park improvements for Bower Park. 

March 19, 2024: The County of Mendocino issued BID 011-24 Bower Park Hazardous Tree Removal Project. The County is seeking bids from California Licensed C-49 (or C-61/D-49) Tree Service Contractors to complete work indicated in BID 011-24. The Bid Opening is scheduled for  Tuesday, April 16, 2024 at 2pm. There will be a non-mandatory site visit and pre-bid conference on Thursday, March 28, 2024 at 11am. For more information, please click here. 

April 3, 2024: The Bower Park Restoration and Improvement Grant Project Survey Responses are now available.

April 22, 2024: The first phase of the Bower Park Restoration and Improvement Grant project moved further forward and bids were received by the County on April 16th, 2024 from 11 contractors.  A review of the bids was conducted and after detailed review, the County determined the lowest, qualified bid on Phase 1.  The County will notify all submitting contractors upon the final selection by the Board of Supervisors in May, 2024.  Work could potentially start as early as June 3, 2024.  

For the second phase, the County and design team held a community workshop on April 6, 2024 at 1:00 pm.  We presented the findings of the survey, discussed required park repair and rehabilitation projects (beyond tree removal) and heard more from the community on desired park improvements for Bower Park.  The County is in the process of conducting a K-12 student survey that will be directed specifically at students in the area, that was suggested at the Community Workshop.  The design team is working on two master plan alternatives for Bower Park and we hope to be able to present that electronically to the community by the end of May, 2024.  After presentation of the two master plan alternatives, the community will provide comments and select the preferred master plan, which will then be presented to the County for final approval.

June 14, 2024:  The County of Mendocino received bids for Phase I:  Hazardous Tree Removal.  The County received 11 bids for the work.  The qualified low bidder was Atlas Tree Surgery.  During the past several weeks, the County and Atlas Tree Surgery have executed the Board of Supervisors approved contract, and scheduled a start date of July 1, 2024.  The park (previously noticed) will be closed from July 1, 2024 through the completion of the hazardous tree removal.

In the meantime, the County has authorized the Integra team to move forward with master planning the park and that process has reached the 50% stage.  The two master plan alternatives will be provided for public input in the coming weeks, the County will publish a survey link and the ability to choose a preferred plan and also choose specific elements from each of the master plans as preferred features.  Alongside the master planning work, the Integra team has initiated environmental investigation into the Bower Park site, including flora, fauna, and cultural resources, to prepare an environmental document for the final preferred master plan (expected mid to late July, 2024).  The document will investigate environmental impacts to the site and surrounding environment and determine if there are any impacts and recommended mitigation strategies.  The report will be complete in Fall, 2024 and enable the project team to develop construction documentation for bidding.  Bidding for the restoration and improvements phase will occur in Spring, 2025.

July 26, 2024: Since the last update, the County and Atlas Tree Surgery have commenced the hazardous tree removal project at Bower Park.  The work officially began on July 2, 2024 and the contractor has up to 60 days to complete the work.  The work is moving quickly and the contractor is ahead of schedule.  More information about when the contractor will be complete and the park will be re-opened to be posted soon.  In the meantime, the County and Integra worked through all of the public comments and survey results and prepared two Site Plan alternatives for public review and comment.  The two Site Plan alternatives have been posted in the survey and we are asking for feedback on amenities between the two Site Plan alternatives.  Your comments and feedback will direct the selection of the preferred park master plan, which will then be presented to the County for final approval and then the preferred park master plan will provide direction for construction plans for Bower Park.

The survey link for the two master plan options has been posted and distributed.  The link for the survey in English is https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/H8CZ25J and the survey in Spanish is https://es.surveymonkey.com/r/FFSYJM9.  The community is encouraged to distribute the survey and make sure to fill out the survey themselves.  The survey will close on July 31, 2024 to enable the project to continue on schedule.  The final Bower Park Master Plan will be posted online once approved.

In the meantime, the environmental review and analysis is being conducted by the Integra team.  Biologists, cultural scientists and historical experts will be reviewing all features of Bower Park and then will analyze the proposed improvements in the final Bower Park Master Plan.  

The final design process will begin in late August and go through early 2025.  Bidding for the improvements will occur in Spring, 2025 and construction will commence in early Summer, 2025 and be finished by end of 2025.

Notable observations and recommendations for potential improvements include:

Hazardous Tree Removal Timeline

Repair and Improvement Timeline

Last updated 4/24/24.