New Master Plan for Earl Warren Showgrounds Revealed, Community Members Worry
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Thursday night, community members carefully listened to the new vision for the Earl Warren Showgrounds.
The new 34-acre master plan reimagines the site as a vibrant community campus and regional hub.
Among the main features — 3 multi-use recreation fields, a field house with courts and support spaces, a covered field house for recreational and equestrian use, and a 6,000 seat tiered arena.
The Earl Warren Showgrounds CEO says this was an economically motivated decision.
“About six years ago the Showgrounds was losing about a quarter million dollars a year. And in that time we've raised the prices on everything and tried to work with the community to become profitable because we are self-sustaining. We don't receive money from the state,” said CEO Ben Sprague.
But the master plan also involves rethinking inclusivity and what to prioritize, and it’s rubbing some community members the wrong way.
“Looking at your plan makes me not optimistic. Very depressed, actually, because you really are considering the equestrian community at all,” said Kathy O’Conner.
O’Connor, who is the Equine Evacuation and Assistance Team Past President, says the new plan will jeopardize the Showgrounds being a safe evacuation center for animals during natural disasters like wildfires and mudslides.
“There are many pickleball courts in this community. There are many soccer fields in this community. There are basketball courts in this community. There's no other equestrian center anywhere between Ventura and Santa Maria. So we're stuck. Anybody that owns a horse in Santa Barbara — we have no place to go in an emergency.“
“Right now. The plan shows three permanent stalls. It looks significantly smaller than the original ones. That mean that may change entirely. But right now there wouldn't be room to handle any significant fire. And for her shows, the big Arabian show, there'd be no space for those horses unless you can put in a lot of temporary stalls,” said Karen Christensen from the Santa Barbara Equine Evacuation Team.
It’s not just the equestrian community that’s worried. It’s also the roller derby community.
“It’s the only roller rink. And those people have been here for years and they've done a great job. They take a very small area and they have completely aced them out. In fact, they cancel the contract with them that they had a year ago,” said O’Connor.
Still, the CEO says that this master plan is a work in progress, and he plans to be receptive to what the community needs.
“We will continue to have live equestrian events. We just had a very successful rodeo a couple of weeks ago, three sold out shows. We see that they use expanding. The purpose of the plan is to support all the aspects of the community, not not only one user group, but all the user groups and user groups that don't have places to go,” said Sprague.
The master plan also will support emergency response efforts, including public safety operations.
