Watsonville City Plaza Project Over Budget

By Jon Chown

A presentation by city staff on the planned renovation of Watsonville City Plaza, which is over budget, and various options going forward, raised the hackles of Council Member Ari Parker at the Oct. 14 City Council meeting.

“There is so much I am upset with right now; I am trying to be calm,” Parker said before asking city staff for a review of the last seven years.

After an outcry by residents to save the historic plaza, the city in 2020 created a strategic and master plan with the plaza renovation at its heart. In December 2021, the city was awarded a $3.5 million grant from the state Department of Parks and Recreation to help fund the renovation. A $3.3 million Community Development Block Grant was added to that. So far, $900,000 has been spent on plans and permits.

The plan calls for a complete restoration of the historic gazebo and fountain. Electrical upgrades would be made, better drainage installed, and permeable concrete would replace the asphalt. Four full-sized art features, one on each corner, would represent the cultures that make up Watsonville: Central and South American art on one corner, Asian art on another, Indigenous art opposite it, and European art in the final corner. Game tables and decomposed granite would be placed around the gazebo.

City staff reported at the meeting, however, that the project is $1.2 million over budget. The City Council was given three options for how the city should proceed. Option A would drop some of the extras, like the game tables and some of the permeable asphalt, and cost $6.91 million. The project would still be over $58,000 and risk further budget overruns as repairs on the gazebo got underway. Option B would leave the structural repairs to the gazebo left undone, making only cosmetic repairs to the structure. All the other extras could be done and still leave the city with a surplus of $620,000. Option C would ditch all repairs to the gazebo and cost $5.83 million, leaving a surplus of $1.02 million.

“So if the gazebo isn’t repaired, a lot of other things could be added back into the project,” said Buildings and Facilities Manager Bob Berry.

Parker forcefully reminded staff and her fellow council members how residents had turned up in large numbers at meeting for years in support of saving the gazebo. To now suggest not repairing it was wrong.

“This is not just an update, this is making really huge changes to what we agreed to,” she said. “The people of the city of Watsonville care about this project very much. … You’re saying give direction, well the direction was given by the public. If you’re looking to cut stuff, it’s certainly not the historical stuff. So Option C, that shouldn’t even be on there. … I could consider A.”

Council Member Jimmy Dutra mainly agreed with Parker. “I at least want the gazebo cosmetically restored,” he said, noting that there were other things planned, such as the permeable asphalt, that didn’t seem as important.

Parker piled on. “We have talked about this for years and what it would cost,” she said. “The public wanted two structures, the foundation and the gazebo, to be here for hundreds of more years. I feel like this is sort of a disingenuous way to bring it to the public.”

Mayor Mario Orozco added her voice to the discussion, also in support of Option A or B, but said she wanted to hear more from the public.