Will Santa Barbara’s West Beach Wading Pool Get New Life as a Chumash Cultural Center?

Santa Barbara’s Harbor Commission supported an alternative option for the future of the West Beach wading pool, which could bring a Chumash cultural center and tomol house to the site of the long-closed kiddie pool just next to Los Baños del Mar.

Members of the commission expressed their support for the Chumash cultural center after hearing a flood of public comments during an update about previous plans for a replacement wading pool or splash pad feature, which had been put on hold since the COVID pandemic. 

Parks and Recreation Department Director Jill Zachary and Project Planner Holly Garcin provided a look into what the city was facing, given the unique challenges of the location as planning staff continues to seek input before further developing the plans.

While there is no determined project at this time, the city is looking to “reenvision the space” as a public resource for community recreation, Garcin said. The wading pool closed in 2014, when it was found to be leaking more than 2,000 gallons a day in the middle of a statewide drought. In the years since, city planners conducted testing to see whether a new water feature was even feasible at the site, finding that any sort of wading pool or splash pad would require much more work and money than previously expected.

Early plans for a water feature made the rounds through city review boards in 2018, and while the idea earned some support at the time, the estimated costs to bring the site up to code gave the city reason to shelve the project. A study in 2023 found the estimated cost to repair the wading pool was more than $1.5 million, while a full replacement would run well over $2.6 million. A splash pad feature would cost at least $1.2 million, and the city would need a $400,000 life guard stand if there were a wading pool, plus $1 million for the required restrooms and changing rooms.

Aside from the construction costs, the city would also need to consider maintenance and the potential impacts of large crowds on the black-crowned night herons and snowy egrets that nest their young in the trees at West Beach park every year between March and September.

Thursday’s commission hearing offered a chance for members of the public to weigh in on the future of the site. Prior to the hearing, more than 20 letters were sent to the Harbor Commission urging them to abandon the idea for a water feature and shift to a plan to create a Chumash cultural center. At the meeting, another dozen community members showed up to share their support.

Chumash Artist John Khus said there’s a lack of education about Santa Barbara’s Indigenous history, and having a dedicated place where the public could learn about Chumash culture — and get to see the local redwood-plank tomol canoes on display — would be an excellent use of the now empty space.

“It would be a wonderful way to help people understand that the Chumash have been here,” Khus said. “We’ve existed in this area far longer than the pyramids — our culture and civilization dates back well before the first Chinese dynasty — and I think a lot of people don’t realize that.”

Other speakers included scientists, Indigenous leaders, academics, and representatives from organizations looking to help the city make sure any potential project has the input of as many local Chumash community members as possible.

Selena Smith, co-founder and dive safety officer of Ocean Origins, said the organization felt that it would be a “great idea to develop the property into an educational space.” Ocean Origins is a tribally led organization focused on indigenous marine stewardship, working with people from all Chumash bands to explore diving and marine science.

Chumash community member Vanessa Hernandez said that a cultural center would be a way for tourists and the public to develop a true relationship with the area’s original inhabitants, and having a chance to learn about waterfaring and tomol paddling will help people understand not just history but the “living Chumash culture.”

“The tomol is our traditional canoe, and represents an important part of our Chumash history, identity, and our ancestral connection with the ocean,” Hernandez said. “Our people have maintained a deep relationship with these coastal waters for generations, and having a dedicated space near the harbor will provide an opportunity to honor, preserve, and share that connection.”

While most of the public commenters were in favor of the cultural center, Santa Barbara native and Chumash tomol builder Joseph Valencia raised concerns about whether the cultural center was truly what the Chumash community wanted. He said the tomol should “be in the water, not a cultural center,” and urged the city to keep the wading pool, which was blessed by his Chumash grandmother when it was opened in 1939.

“If my Chumash brothers want to build a culture center there, it should exist with the pool, because that was a gift for the children from us,” Valencia said. “We need to make sure we put them together. They should be together.”

Annette Cordero, a retired English professor and member of the Coastal Band of the Chumash Nation, urged the city to speak with a “broad section of Chumash communities” to ensure they hear all different perspectives.

“Very often people and organizations find it difficult to work with the community because they think we are one monolith, when in fact we are several different bands that exist in this locality,” Cordero said. “And we don’t all share the same beliefs and the same attitudes. So where one person might say, ‘Oh, we think this is a terrible idea,’ somebody else could say, ‘This is the greatest idea we ever heard.’”

Harbor Commissioner Spenser Jaimes, the city’s first commissioner of Chumash descent, has been floating the idea of a dedicated space for Chumash to gather and store their tomols for some time now. His father is a tomol captain in Santa Barbara, and Jaimes has gained support from local leaders such as County Supervisors Laura Capps and Roy Lee, and City Councilmembers Oscar Gutierrez and Kristen Sneddon.

“I am very excited about the possibility of a Chumash cultural center,” Councilmember Sneddon said following Thursday’s hearing. “What is most exciting is that the idea was brought forward from members of the Chumash community. Spenser Jaimes was the first I heard this from several months ago, and I am grateful for this coming forward.”

At the commissioning meeting, Jaimes was thankful for the outpouring of support, but said he was disappointed to see the Parks and Recreation Department’s report did not include details about the Chumash cultural center in the presentation.

Jaimes said that he was glad to hear from the community and felt that it was time that the city did more to acknowledge the Chumash people in a way that was more meaningful than a land acknowledgement or a sign at a park.

Jaimes pointed out that, with environmental considerations and sea-level rise, a wading pool would be a “reckless” idea to pursue. He also noted that the local Chumash community deserved a dedicated space for its tomols, which are currently unable to be stored due to crates that are blocking the spot allotted by the city.

“Having a tomol house — somewhere to store Chumash canoes — is essential,” Jaimes said. “I think it would be great for the city. Having a cultural center would be great for the city, and for tourism.”

Jaimes said that Santa Barbara proudly celebrates its Spanish culture through art and architecture throughout the city, “and considering that Chumash peoples have been here much longer than Spain was, we should also be matched with that respect.”

Commissioner Suzanne Cohen was also in full support of the city pursuing an alternative to honor the Chumash. Cohen said the city should reach out to a wide selection of community members and lean on groups such as Ocean Origins to guide some of the plans.

“They seem to be the organization with the best fit to help with what could be feasible here,” Cohen said. “I would support having some sort of Chumash Cultural Center in this area. I think that’s a much better use for it.”

Originally, the commission was supposed to receive the report and have their comments passed along to the city council for future consideration. After discussion, Jaimes and Cohen worked together to craft a motion declaring the commission’s support for working toward Chumash Cultural Center and tomol house at West Beach wading pool.

The commission voted 6-0-1 in agreement, with Commissioner John Stedman abstaining from the vote. Stedman said he did not feel comfortable voting, because he felt that the Chumash cultural center was not officially part of the agenda. Commissioner Jaimes noted that the staff report included a recommendation that did ask the commission to “consider potential recreational uses” that “includes opportunities to incorporate Chumash history and culture.”