Our Mission
The Rio Del Mar Park, or ‘the Blue Park’ as it is fondly known, is the hub of the community at Rio Del Mar Elementary School, Aptos.
It is where families pick up their kids from school, and lifelong friendships are made as kids play; where birthdays are marked, and Kinder promotion is celebrated; where kids meet their buddies for weekly reading sessions; and after school, where dogs chase balls, whilst their owners exercise.
But now, the swings have been removed and the playground caution-taped off because the structure is too dangerous to play on. Instead of kids playing after school, families head straight home, and the school's sense of community is suffering.
Led by the Rio Del Mar Parent Alliance, the Restore Rio Del Mar Park Group is committed to restoring the park for our community. Our mission is to collaborate with PVUSD, Santa Cruz County, community leaders, neighbors, and local businesses to improve and remodel our our park, making it a place for all to enjoy.
Rio Del Mar Park In Action
Buddies
Lifelong Friendships
Celebrations
Classes use the park for weekly Reading Buddy sessions, where older students help younger grades learn to read.
Celebrations
Lifelong Friendships
Celebrations
Each year Kinder holds their promotion party at Rio Del Mar Park.
Lifelong Friendships
Lifelong Friendships
Lifelong Friendships
The park is where kids run off post school energy, families meet, play dates are arranged, and lifelong friendships are made.
Drop Off & Pick Up
Lifelong Friendships
Lifelong Friendships
Rio Del Mar Park is the pick up spot for a huge number of families.
For all ages
Learning Space
For all ages
Younger siblings play in the park and make friends that they will start Kinder with, leading to an easier start to school.
Community
Learning Space
For all ages
The park is the hub of the Rio community, where people come together to mark special moments.
Learning Space
Learning Space
Learning Space
Students play and learn together at the park.
Exploration
Learning Space
Learning Space
The park is a space for children to explore, play and adventure.
Unsafe For Play
Since summer 2024 the swings have been removed and the playground caution-taped off because the structure is too dangerous to play on. Instead of kids playing after school and parents catching up, families head straight home.
Not only is the play structure unsafe, there are other issues thaat need addressing:
- Flooding - the playground floods during heavy rain creating a swamp of dirt and floating mulch (the kids bring rain boots on those days to wade to the swings and play structure!).
- Dangerous access ramp - The access ramp from Pinehurst that cuts between two houses is dangerously steep, with no handrail.
- Dilapidated grills - The grills at the back of the park are a health hazard - rusted, leaning and overgrown with weeds.
- No paved pathway - the grassy area, which families must walk across as there is no paved pathway from the access ramp, is pockmarked with gopher holes that are a serious injury hazard.
Restoring The Park
Under a 1994 Joint Partnership Agreement, Santa Cruz County and PVUSD share responsibility for the park. We have been talking to Superintendent Contreras and Supervisor Zach Friend and are grateful to have their support to restore the park.
The issue now is money!
The cost of replacing the current play structure with the pour-and-play ADA accessible structure (pictured here) will be $250,000.
The district and county are working to find funds to put into replacing the play structure, but we need to raise $150,000 from the community to see it realized..
We hope that we can engage the support of the Rio Del Mar and wider Aptos community to fundraise and come together to create a wonderful park for our school and neighbors to enjoy.
With community involvement we envisage a project that would be completed in three stages.
- Replace the current condemned play structure with an ADA accessible structure
- Replace the dangerous access ramp with stairs or ramp that meet codes, and join the ramp to the play area via a walkway
- Install a multi-use sports court (near to where the grills currently are) - with facilities for basketball, tennis and pickle ball