EPIC! Capital Campaign

Elings Park is the largest community-supported non-profit public park in America. More than 200,000 visitors use the 230-acre park annually.

No City or County monies are used for the Park’s upkeep or improvements. We are a nonprofit organization and rely on user fees, donations, grants, and community goodwill for operating funds. But they are not enough for major infrastructure, deferred maintenance, habitat restoration, and capital improvement projects.

In 2019, the Elings Park Foundation Board of Directors voted unanimously to undertake the $10 million EPIC campaign to rebuild, refurbish, modernize, and strengthen the Park’s aging infrastructure. Twenty percent of each capital gift goes to an endowment for park maintenance.

In May 2020, we started the first EPIC project – renovation of the softball restrooms – which were completed and reopened in October of 2020.

Since then, we’ve been busy – as you can see from the list of completed projects below. But there’s still more to do.

We hope you like what you see and will consider donating to EPIC.

It’s easy! Donate here or contact us to discuss current needs and naming opportunities. Contact Marinella Baker at mbaker@elingspark.org or (805) 569-5611.

Donate to EPIC!
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Why Support Elings Park

Completed

  • Entry roads and parking lots paved and striped
  • Speed humps added
  • New sidewalks built
  • Sandstone walls hand-built
  • Softball Field bathrooms renovated
  • Soccer Field bathrooms renovated
  • Warm-water dog washing station installed
  • Three miles of hiking and biking trail upgrades
  • Entry, Veterans Memorial Walk, and Jerry Harwin Parkway relandscaped with California native plants
  • Las Positas Tennis Center renovation (see below)
  • More than 250 native coast live oak and island oak trees planted
  • 3,000+ native plants planted
  • Water well reactivated
  • New Disc Golf Course installed
  • Walking and bike trail connecting Las Positas Parkway to Cliff Drive
  • Hilltop trail with improved accessibility in South Park area
  • Improved park signage along Harwin Parkway

Underway

  • Entry Kiosk and planter on Jerry Harwin Parkway
  • Accessibility, landscaping, and other Godric Grove improvements
  • Pathway along George Bliss Drive leading to Singleton Pavilion
  • Greenhouse for oak nursery
  • Water well pump
  • Trailer parking pad for Park Hosts
  • Native plant landscaping for Godric Grove and Singleton Pavilion
  • Electric service to replace generator at Channel Islands Raceway and BMX track

Coming Soon

  • Two Signature Playgrounds developed
  • Marborg Walkway to link softball restrooms to new playground
  • More trail improvements
  • New gates installed on Calle Montillo and Valerio street entrances
  • Lighting improvements for Softball Field #3
  • New pathways in Singleton Pavilion

Tennis Center Renovations

The renovated Tennis Center’s amenities and gorgeous setting may well eclipse many private clubs. Multiple generations have enjoyed this one-of-a-kind center, which evokes the heyday of family tennis in the 1970s and 1980s. It is truly a Santa Barbara treasure.

Donations have already been put to good use, and the first two of three phases of renovation are now complete. The Tennis Center is open during this final phase of fundraising.

Completed

  • Restrooms, pros’ office, storage areas, and mechanical systems renovated
  • All pathways repaved and now meet ADA accessibility guidelines
  • New entry gate and fencing
  • Parking lot repaved, new lighting and security installed
  • LED court lighting

Coming Soon

  • California native-plant landscaping
  • Furniture, fixtures, equipment

Will you help us “ace” this renovation?

Donate to Tennis

Foundation Support for EPIC!

Thank you to the generous foundations who have supported EPIC!, including:

Adams Legacy Foundation
Ann Jackson Foundation
Alice Tweed Tuohy Foundation
Brittingham Family Foundation
Emmett Foundation
Hutton Parker Foundation
June Outhwaite Foundation

John C. Mithun Foundation
Kirby-Jones Foundation
MacDonald Family Foundation
Manitou Fund
Montecito Bank & Trust
Mosher Foundation
Santa Barbara Foundation

Schlinger Chrisman Foundation
Towbes Foundation
Trek Trails Foundation
Williams-Corbett Foundation
Whittier Trust/WWW Foundation
Wood-Claeyssens Foundation
Zegar Family Foundation

Supporters Celebrate Tennis Center Reopening

Leadership

EPIC! Capital Campaign Co-Chairs
Bruce Giffin
Lauren Katz

EPIC! Campaign Steering Committee
Joe Andrulaitis
Patty Bryant
Veronica Buck
Marcia Constance
Rick Lehman
Matthew Morphy
Holly Pieretti
Abe Powell
Marshall Rose
Peter Schuyler
Mike Tarpey
Lew Venegas

EPIC! Honorary Advisory Council
Bob Bryant
Joe Cole
Marcia Constance
Tooey Courtemanche
Jeff and Eun-Ju Elings
Janet Garufis
Gregg Hart
Palmer Jackson, Jr.
Abe Powell
Joanne Rapp
Marshall Rose
Peter Schuyler
Greg Tebbe
Anne Towbes

EPIC! Campaign Coordinator
Marinella Baker

EPIC! Campaign Counsel
The Kellogg Organziation

Elings Park Foundation Board of Directors
Patty Bryant, President

Trish Allen
Joe Andrulaitis
J. Gordon Auchincloss
Joe Billings
John Britton
Marcia Constance
Hilary Doubleday
Virgil Elings
Bruce Giffin
Annette Kowblansky
Jennifer Oakley
Belita Ong
Holly Pieretti
Robert Schmidt
Eric Schmitz
Lew Venegas
Jill Zachary, City Parks Director

Executive Director
Dean Noble

Infrastructure Committee
Trish Allen
Suzanne Elledge Planning & Permitting Services, Inc.
Joe Andrulaitis
Andruliatis & Mixon Architecture
Bruce Giffin
Giffin & Crane General Contractors, LLC, Ret.
Robert Schmidt
Flowers & Associates Engineerings
Lew Venegas
Granite Construction, Ret.

Directors Emeriti
Carolyn Pesnell Amory
Will Beall
Marty Blum
Sharon Bradford
Barry Cappello
Bill Cirone
Fred Clough
Michael Fauver
Roger Horton
Richard Johns
Eric Kanowsky
Lauri Leighty
Art Merovick
Chapin Nolen
Mike Noling
Nancy Rapp
Keith Schofield
Danny Vickers
Joanie Zacher

In Memorium
George Bliss
Debbie Davison
Patrick DeYoung
Bob  Flowers
Jeanne Graffy
Jerry Harwin
Steve Katz
Bernie Krakower
General F. Michal Rogers
Katie O’Reilly Rogers
Mike Warren

Thanks to funds from EPIC!, more than 300 California-native oak trees has been planted in the park.

From left to right, volunteer landscape architect Bob Cunningham, Foundation president Patty Bryant, Santa Barbara Mayor Rowse, EPIC! co-chairs Lauren Katz (in pink) and Bruce Giffin, Foundation Board member Marcia Constance, and Executive Director Dean Noble.

In 2022, Elings Tennis Pro Adam Webster and Tennis Camp participants celebrated the issuing of the Building Permit for Tennis Center renovations.

Help us "ace" the Tennis Center renovation by donating to EPIC!

EPIC! Is Underway