Kiwanis leads fundraising push to restore Carson Park playground

Carson Park’s aging playground is headed for a full replacement, leaving Eureka families with less safe, less usable space unless Kiwanis of Henderson Center closes a $150,000 funding gap for a rebuild. City documents say the existing equipment, including two large playsets and two swing sets, is damaged beyond repair and will be removed from the 40-foot-by-70-foot play area near I Street, Buhne Street and Carson Street.

Kiwanis has made the project its 75th anniversary service effort, framing the work as a long-term investment in children and neighborhood life. John Friedenbach said the club wanted a project that would have a lasting impact on youth in Eureka, and Carson Park fit that goal. The group has been working through bake sales, pancake breakfasts, Get Out and Play Day, a grand opening at Di as Park and the Change-for-Change program at Eureka Natural Foods to build momentum toward the goal.

The city has cast the playground rebuild as part of the broader Carson Park Improvement Project. Jim Thomas said the project is expensive and that the City of Eureka and the Henderson Center Kiwanis are working together to make it happen. The volunteer build is planned for Spring/Summer 2026, and city records say the new playground will replace the old equipment in the existing designated play area rather than expand the footprint.

That next phase follows earlier work already completed at the park. Phase 1 brought a new restroom and relocated the basketball court, and the restroom was built by the College of the Redwoods Construction program with support from the Rotary Club of Old Town Eureka, the Rotary Club of Southwest Eureka and the Rotary Club of Eureka. The city says Phases 2 and 3 still depend on funding.

Carson Park also carries deep local history. The property came into city ownership in 1932, when the William Carson Estate Co. donated it in commemoration of William Carson’s memory. The park is listed on Eureka’s Local Register of Historic Places, and the playground rehabilitation was noticed for a Eureka Historic Preservation Commission public hearing on July 2, 2025. For a heavily used neighborhood park, the rebuild is not just a cosmetic upgrade but a test of whether civic groups, city staff and donors can restore a familiar public space before the current equipment becomes a complete loss.