CAPITOLA – The Capitola City Council will consider taking a few significant steps forward this week in the plan to design and build its Rispin Mansion Park.
At its Thursday meeting, council members will weigh a staff recommendation to begin the bid advertising process for park construction and also a resolution that would transfer $30,000 from the city’s general fund directly into the park project, which is estimated to cost $964,000, according to the staff report.
“I’m excited that this is coming to us, just generally because it has been such a long time since we’ve had any progress on it,” said Council member Kristen Brown. “Especially because it is across from the library, it’s going to be a wonderful asset for the community.”
According to the agenda report, an intention to remake the area surrounding the mansion on Wharf Road into a park has been in development since 2014, after plans to turn it into a hotel fell through. After a pathway access project was completed in 2016, the park aspect picked up momentum in early 2021, after the City Council voted to approve a conceptual plan for the space, in collaboration with the city’s Public Works Department. This momentum became somewhat turbulent, after unsettling information surrounding the park’s namesake came to light.
The four-story, 22-room mansion was build in 1921 by Henry Allen Rispin, who was a real-estate tycoon that owned the city of Capitola from 1919 to the early 1930s. Community members uncovered official land deeds in circulation during the Rispin era that used blatantly discriminatory language: “This property shall never be occupied by any person or persons other than of the Caucasian race,” read one deed to a Capitola property.
A spirited conversation amongst city officials and the public ensued in which many called for the renaming of the mansion and park to avoid the appearance of honoring a prejudiced history. In response, the council requested an extensive study that examined Rispin and his private and public records in an effort to determine if he held racist beliefs and practices. However, the report was inconclusive and the council decided to sidestep the decision for the time being, as it did not impact the nuts and bolts of moving toward construction, which is slated to begin in spring of 2023.
Brown on Tuesday told the Sentinel that she did not expect the renaming issue to come up in Thursday’s meeting, though the subject will continue to be examined until a decision is made.
“I anticipate this is a discussion that will be ongoing between now and spring 2023,” Brown said. “So that we can ensure that if this park around the mansion is given a separate name, that it actually reflects our community members so everyone feels welcome.”
Capitola Mayor Sam Storey shared a similar deference to the community in making the park name determination, but also extended that mentality to the mansion itself, which the city has owned since 1985.
“It’s a complete blank canvas for the community,” Storey said of the mansion, which has been sealed off since 2011. “There are no concrete plans about what to do with it at this point. That will be the next phase of community discussion.”
If you go
What: Capitola City Council meeting.
When: 7 p.m., Thursday.
Where: Zoom link: us02web.zoom.us.