Santa Barbara’s downtown trapeze act must leave Vera Cruz Park after the city of Santa Barbara made the decision not to renew the company’s lease.
The Parks and Recreation Department will not renew the Santa Barbara Trapeze Co.’s lease past April 2027, said founder Randy Kohn.
“I don’t know where we fell short,” Kohn said. “More people have used this park for five years than in the last 30.”
Santa Barbara Trapeze has offered summer camps and trapeze and acrobatics classes at Vera Cruz Park since it agreed to a temporary one-year contract in 2021. In 2022, Parks and Recreation again renewed the agreement with annual one-year extensions through spring 2027.
The Parks division will not extend the agreement because it plans to make Vera Cruz Park “free and open to the public,” said Jill Zachary, the director of Parks and Recreation.
Through the partnership, the city aimed to clear and revitalize Vera Cruz Park, nicknamed “needle park,” after loitering and drug use in the area sparked outrage. Santa Barbara Trapeze occupies about 60% of the park.
In 2018, a 4-year-old boy was accidentally pricked by a hypothermic needle he found on a play structure. He was tested multiple times for HIV and Hepatitis C, among other diseases.
The city has since installed fencing on the perimeter of the park, which is adjacent to Haley and Cota Streets. Zachary said Parks and Recreation does not plan to remove the fencing to protect children from cars on the street.
“We’ve raised money to make other park improvements, so that we can actually have a viable, safe park space that’s open to everybody, rather than it being exclusively used by a trapeze company,” she said.
As part of the leasing agreement, Santa Barbara Trapeze pays the city a portion of its revenue. Kohn said the trapeze company also paid for landscaping, water and fencing maintenance for the park.
Future plans
The city has offered Santa Barbara Trapeze a few relocation options, Kohn said, including a parking structure in downtown Santa Barbara and an area near the Santa Barbara Airport.
But Vera Cruz Park’s location is special, he said. Kohn said the park neighbors a bus stop, allowing families to easily access the trapeze setup.
“We have so many people that come in from out of town from LA and from all over the country,” Kohn said. “Having them stay downtown and have to go up to Goleta, even though it’s not that far in theory, it isolates some of our existing customer base.”
Zachary said the Parks department plans to open up Vera Cruz Park as part of the Parks and Recreation Master Plan, which gathers feedback from community members to create improvement projects for city parks and recreation facilities.
The department also wants to hold free summer camp programs at Vera Cruz Park next year, Zachary said. She said Parks and Recreation is working with the Public Works department to remove a well structure in the space, install more paths and put an entrance by the park’s Cota Street side.
“Having it be available to turn into something new is really important,” Zachary said. “People will think there’s no options.”
Kohn said he’s grateful that Parks and Recreation allowed Santa Barbara Trapeze to use the space in the first place. He said he hopes the city uses Vera Cruz Park to promote positive recreational activities.
Santa Barbara Trapeze has given away more than $100,000 in raffle tickets and scholarships to community members over the years, Kohn said.
“I have kids who come here every day after school,” he said.
However, Kohn said he’s concerned that the trapeze company won’t be able to find a permanent home come April 2027.
“I totally understand that it was always just a temporary setup,” Kohn said. “But when you do everything right in a business relationship, my thought would be that we would at least get an extension.”
