UKIAH, CA., 10/9/26 — California State Senator Mike McGuire led a ceremony on Tuesday at Ukiah’s Oak Manor Park, next to the elementary school of the same name, commemorating an upcoming upgrade to the park made possible by $600,000 in state funding for a permanent bathroom, a new playground and other upgrades.
The park’s only restroom now is a portable toilet. Work could start in 2027. “The City of Ukiah anticipates breaking ground on the revitalization project in Spring or Summer of 2027,” McGuire said in a press release Wednesday.
McGuire, Ukiah Mayor Susan Sher, Vice Mayor Juan Orozco and City Manager Sage Sangiacomo spoke at the ceremony, which took place next to the park’s current playground, under a tree large enough to provide shade to the dozen or so people who attended.
“Parks are the lifeblood of our neighborhoods. They’re meeting places that bring people together and create stronger communities,” Sher said on Tuesday at the ceremony. “They instill a sense of ownership in neighborhoods where people can gather, get to know each other, and build friendships. In the hot summer months, they are a place where people can cool off in the shade, have a picnic, or just take a break from other stressors in their lives. It’s also a place where kids can run around while their parents relax on a bench and keep an eye on them. Parks revitalize neighborhoods and also inspire economic development.”
Asked how the new playground would compare with the old one, McGuire said the newer equipment, which he calls “big toys,” is well ahead of the decades-old set in place now.
“The new big toys that are now coming out are light years ahead of what we would see here with a 20-year-old play structure,” McGuire said. “They’re much more interactive. There’s a lot more to do, and candidly, it will leave this playground in the dust.”
What the money buys
McGuire’s office says the money will replace the playground, upgrade the tennis courts, add dedicated pickleball courts, put in a permanent bathroom that meets Americans with Disabilities Act standards and also install a community garden. The budget bill itself, Assembly Bill 113, does not identify specifics, but gives the city $600,000 “for essential upgrades to public structures in Oak Manor Park,” paid through the state Department of Parks and Recreation.
On the city’s list for years
The bathroom and the playground are the two items the city already had on its list. Ukiah’s draft five-year capital improvement plan, the city’s list of planned projects and their estimated costs, was published in the agenda packet for a June 1 special City Council meeting. It lists a restroom for the park at an estimated $130,000 and says the park is served by a “porta-potty.” It lists new playground equipment at an estimated $200,000, saying the old equipment needs replacing because of its age, its heavy use and “safety concerns.” Pickleball courts and a community garden weren’t in the plan.
The city has been trying to improve the park for years. In July 2019, the City Council voted 5-0 to apply for state Proposition 68 park grant money for improvements at Oak Manor and Vinewood parks, meeting minutes show. This year’s draft plan says staff “applied for Prop 68 funds for park renovations” and still lists the playground as waiting on a grant.
What residents want
What Ukiah residents want from their parks is laid out in the city’s draft parks study, put out in 2025. Asked in a city survey for their top three activities, 57% of respondents picked trail use and 57% picked picnicking, relaxing and hanging out. Twelve percent picked pickleball. The study says pickleball had “vocal and organized proponents” but wasn’t among the most popular activities. It estimates a pickleball court costs $200,000 to $500,000.
The survey also asked about safety. More than 17% of respondents said they consider Oak Manor Park unsafe, the study says, putting it in a group with Riverside and Low Gap parks.
The study counts Oak Manor and Todd Grove as the city’s two community parks, a category it defines as designed for organized activity, with users coming from some distance, and including parking, sports fields and restrooms.
McGuire, a Democrat, is running for the 1st Congressional District seat on the Nov. 3 ballot, according to the secretary of state’s certified list of candidates.
Under the budget bill, the city has until June 30, 2029, to commit or spend the $600,000.
Amazing! Next step is reclaiming our community gem: the pedestrian overpass
I grew up across the street from Oak Manor park. I liked it better when it was just a field of tall grass taller than I was as a kid. It was home to families of quail and even pheasants. Same with the trailer park and shopping center on Orchard Ave.
Restrooms were part of the original design and supposed to be build in the rectangle space between the parking lot and playground, but they never got funded.
I don’t consider the park unsafe just more of a nuisance. My parents might think it unsafe, since they had a drunk lady drive out of the parking lot right through their front door.
The worst thing about that park is some of the people who use the picnic area on the weekends that care nothing about the neighbors. On a regular basis during the summer, Saturday and Sunday means loud music blasting from the picnic area. I mean really loud, inside the house load. A few weeks ago someone even had a live band playing with four foot tall speakers pointed towards the trailer park. If you complain it’s to deaf ears even the police do nothing but drive by if you call them.
It’s really the cities fault because they do nothing to stop it. It’s written on the application to rent the picnic area “no amplified music allowed” and no generators after 6pm.The least they could do is place permanent signs in the picnic area reminding no amplified music. Not everyone is like this, just a few who apparently have different customs than I do.
Many a Saturday afternoon I daydream of hacking the sprinkler timer, that would be something to see.