KERNVILLE, Calif. (KERO — Jami Ward, owner or Riverside Grill, was coming up on the two month anniversary of the restaurant's grand opening when she learned about the complete closure of Riverside Park.
- Jami Ward says her new restaurant Riverside Grill will be impacted by the closure of nearby Riverside Park, which attracts a lot of foot traffic.
- On March 10, 2023, Riverside Park suffered major damage after extremely high flows from the Kern River submerged much of the park.
- The Riverside Park restoration project is projected to take place from August 2024 to January 2025. During this time Riverside park will be completely closed.
- The estimated cost of this project is roughly 1.4 million dollars.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
“I pulled up to work and saw the fencing up and immediately started panicking. Asked a construction worker and he told me that the park would be closed fully gated off for approximately four to six months,” said Jami Ward, owner of Riverside Grill.
Ward is talking about how she learned about the repair work being done at Riverside Park – which on Wednesday was completely fenced off for construction work.
“The park needed to be fixed. But we should have been informed,” Ward said.
Ward opened Riverside Grill on June 12 and said they have been heavily reliant on foot traffic from those who visit the park.
Her restaurant has both an indoor dining space and an outdoor window.
“I spent a huge amount of money on my food order for this weekend because it's the weekend before schools in Kern County [start],” Ward said.
“We knew it was coming, we just didn’t know exactly when and we didn;t know whether it was going to be done in phases or not,” said Orion Sanders, President of the Kernville Chamber of Commerce.
Sanders said he wasn’t aware the project was starting until he saw fencing being put up.
“After having a couple of conversations with the county we understand that it is important to close the whole thing down at once so that all of the dirt work can be done at once,” said Sanders.
Ally Triolo, Chief Communications Officer for Kern County, told me that part of the reason for the sudden start was the availability of the contractor.
“We met with the contractor and they were able to start right away so that was excellent news. Once this was approved by the board on July 30th we were able to get going almost immediately, so that's why the community was able to see that fencing go up.”
The renovations for Riverside Park are projected to be completed until January 2025, and the fencing will be up that entire time.
The total cost of the project is 1.4 million dollars and will make numerous upgrades to the park.
“It’s going to include new walkways, new picnic tables, benches, and entirely new basketball court, upgraded exercise equipment, playground equipment, barbecues, and of course making sure all of the maintenance processes like irrigation and electrical utilities are up to speed. We’re having turf installed.”
Triolo told 23ABC Kern County is working on a a plan for more repairs along the bank of the river at Riverside Park - but there is not currently a timeline for that project.
There is a section left open for river access, but does not include a safe walkway.
Ward says she hopes for more warning about the closure for tourists after she saw a group of tubers.
“They were tubing and they didn't know about the fence and they got out and they walked up through their tubes over the fence and hopped over the fence.”
Ward wants the information on the project to be more accessible.
“It would be great for signs for knowledge. People walk up and they don't know what's going on,” Ward said.
“We have to look at the big picture, the big picture is once it’s done, we are going to have more visitors here than ever,” Sanders said.
And there are some customers the project will bring –
“I do want to add that the construction workers have been great. They are patronizing the local businesses because they feel for us they understand that this is a huge impact to our businesses and they are trying their hardest, you know, to support all of us and that's appreciated.”
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