After Nearly a Decade, Dwight Murphy Field Renovations Break Ground 

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This article was underwritten in part by the Mickey Flacks Journalism Fund for Social Justice, a proud, innovative supporter of local news. To make a contribution go to sbcan.org/journalism_fund.

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The mood is bright at Dwight Murphy Park in Santa Barbara on Thursday, never mind the marine layer clinging to the coast. It’s the groundbreaking ceremony of the park’s renovation project — a project nearly a decade in the making. A crowd of  government officials, a contingent from the nearby Santa Barbara Zoo, and community members mill around while kids play on a small, dated playground. Soon, everyone gathers to listen to a few short speeches as city councilmembers and other folks involved in the project line up behind golden groundbreaking shovels. 

“I think a few of us in the audience and here [at the front] can’t believe we’re here today, but we are super, super excited and so pleased we’re about to embark on a complete renewal of one of Santa Barbara’s oldest parks,” Jill Zachary, the City of Santa Barbara’s director of Parks and Recreation, told the crowd. 

For nearly a century, folks have enjoyed Dwight Murphy Field as a place to exercise and play. But the field needs to be closed four times a year for turf rehab, the fitness area is about 50 years old, and the park isn’t especially accessible: there are no walking paths through it, nor is the playground accessible for all kids. 

The renovation will change that. It will include a 30,000-square-foot all-abilities playground, complete with a “magical tree” built so you can reach the top in a wheelchair. It will create a new fitness area twice the size of the current one, a new sports field with artificial turf, new restrooms, a grassy picnic area, and more parking. The renovation will build walking paths, too. 

“It will be fully accessible when we’re done — everywhere,” Zachary said. “Even people that want to just come walk the park will be able to come walk the park.” 

Zachary said the project started with a smaller goal in mind: field improvements. Then she connected with Bill and Victoria Strong. The Strongs were looking to build a fully accessible, inclusive playground — something Victoria Strong said Santa Barbara County didn’t have.

The project continued to expand. 

“Really, it kicked off in 2018, and so it’s been that long to finish through the planning, the permitting, and getting all the funding lined up,” Zachary said. 

The Strongs are the founders of the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation, a local nonprofit. Victoria Strong said she started the foundation after her six-month-old daughter Gwendolyn was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy. 

“At the time [2007], there were no treatments. And so my husband and I — that was our first mission, to work toward treatments.” 

Today, Strong said, there are three FDA-approved treatments for the disease. The foundation provides support for families with children with disabilities, supports research into spinal muscular atrophy, and advocates for policies that can help those in the disabled community. 

Strong said her daughter found inclusion in her life — that she had friends at school and children worked to include her in play — before dying at age 7. 

“When she died, I knew immediately that this was the legacy that I wanted to see here because she got to enjoy inclusion, and I think every child should.” 

Strong said the Foundation raised more than $6.5 million for the playground. And, along the way, she said she’s shared with other families the process of making an accessible playground a reality. She said that there are six other accessible playgrounds built in communities around the country. 

All told, the Dwight Murphy Renovation Project will cost about $32 million and take about two years to complete. The city has put forward a little more than $19 million to both the park and the new police station in a joint venture, and billionaire Ty Warner donated $5 million to the park project, filling in a shortfall.