Closter Park Was Rebuilt Around Family Gatherings. How Do You Actually Use It?

Salinas Mayor Dennis Donohue hit his last home run on the baseball field at Closter Park. Kristan Lundquist, the City's library and community services director, played co-ed softball there for years after she moved back to Salinas following college. Both of them told Monterey County NOW about it at the park's grand reopening on August 29.

Those stories explain why the nearly $10 million renovation left the park recognizable. On paper the list of new features is long. In practice most of it builds on what the Alisal had already made at 401 Towt Street: a place for family functions, youth sports and the two tenants who never left. Knowing that history also explains the rules that come with the new outdoor kitchen and event space.

A park built in layers

The City's own history of Closter Park traces the land to the Closter family, who owned it as early as the 1920s, when it was part of a larger property called Rancho El Sausal. Each layer since then has been added by a group that uses the park.

The Salinas National Little League has called Closter home for 75 years, according to the City. The Salinas Boxing Club still offers its programs in the 1977 building, as Monterey County NOW reported at the reopening. Both are still part of the park after the renovation.

The 2012 kiosko set the pattern the new design follows. When the Rotary clubs were building it, Monterey County NOW described a public square modeled on the gathering spots found in neighborhoods across Mexico. It had a walkway around a copper-covered stage, and the project cost nearly $400,000. The Don Chapin Co. donated cement and sand, and Pacific Interlocking Paver donated the walkway stone. Doug Brown, a past president of the Rotary Club of Corral de Tierra, told the paper during construction, "We have already had requests for quinceañeras." The City now calls the plazita "a true landmark" of the park and the Alisal.

What the $10 million added, and who it serves

Building plans like that came out of the community meetings. City Councilmember Tony Barrera held many of them so residents could weigh in on the design, KSBW reported at the April 2025 groundbreaking.

"The Closter Park has a special meaning for the Alisal neighborhoods, this is the backyard of Alisal, we have thousands of people living close by in hundreds of apartments so this is where they come to have family functions." — Councilmember Tony Barrera, to KSBW

Read the new feature list with that quote in mind and it sorts into three groups. The Salinas Californian and Monterey County NOW describe the finished seven-acre park this way:

• For family functions: a gazebo picnic area with an outdoor kitchen and barbecue, a smaller picnic area, a multi-use event space, amphitheater-style seating for outdoor performances, and a concession facility.
• For everyday exercise: a fitness loop that circles the park, with exercise stations and lighting, plus a colorized basketball court and a new playground.
• For the long-time users: renovated baseball fields for the Little League, and four public restrooms across the site.

The first group is the 2012 kiosko idea at a larger scale. The amphitheater seating, the event space and the outdoor kitchen all serve the gatherings Brown was already getting requests for 14 years ago.

Who paid for it and who drew it

The money came mostly from Sacramento. A Proposition 68 Statewide Park Program grant of about $6.8 million covered most of the cost. American Rescue Plan Act funds and the City's General Fund covered the remaining $3 million or so, Lundquist told Monterey County NOW. The City's project page shows the same mix of sources.

A December 2024 City staff report shows how the work was split. BFS Landscape Architects handled design, programming and construction management, working with City staff and the community. McGuire and Hester was the construction contractor.

The grand reopening was a shared celebration. It also marked the fifth anniversary of AMOR Salinas, the City's beautification and community engagement program, and Monterey County NOW tied it to the Little League's 75th anniversary at the park.

The house rules of a first-come backyard

The design also explains how the new features are shared. The City's Parks page says City parks are first-come, first-served. The City's Permits and Reservations page says the baseball fields are different. A permit is required to use them, and the Closter Park Baseball Field is on the list, with reservations at (831) 758-7306. So the league layer runs on permits, and the everyday picnic layer runs on the first-come rule.

The citywide park rules on that page shape a Closter gathering in specific ways:

1. Use what's there. Groups must use the tables, chairs and barbecue pits the park provides. Extra tables, chairs and barbecues brought from home are not allowed.
2. Leave the fryer at home. Deep fat fryers are not permitted.
3. Music needs paperwork. Amplified sound requires an Amplified Sound Permit, and live music groups need a Special Event Permit.
4. Bounce houses are limited. They are allowed only in certain parks, require a permit and must come from a City-approved vendor. The Recreation and Parks line, (831) 758-7306, has the list of approved locations.
5. Dogs go elsewhere. Leashed dogs are allowed only at Rossi/Rico Parkway Park and on the north side of Freedom Parkway at Natividad Creek Park.
6. No alcohol. Alcohol is not allowed at City facilities. The only exception is Sherwood Park, with written City approval.

For a birthday or a quinceañera, these rules mean arriving early, cooking on the park's grills and keeping music unamplified unless a permit is in hand. The 2012 plazita was built for that kind of gathering, and the new outdoor kitchen widens it.

November at Closter, and an evening nearby

The lit fitness loop is the new feature that matters most as the days get shorter. Monterey County NOW lists the park's hours as 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. The City's general park rules say facilities are open dawn to dusk, with no one in the parks after dark. A quick call to Recreation and Parks before an evening walk is the simplest way to know which applies at Closter this winter.

The park's next chapter may come from residents too. On reopening day, KSBW spoke with resident Victor Garcia, who was working with council members on more family events at the park, including a night market. "It's going to be on a Thursday or Friday," Garcia told the station. "We want to bring families together from this community."

For something on the calendar this month, Centro de Bellas Artes de Alisal at 745 N. Sanborn Road lists a free Día de los Muertos event on Friday, November 20, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Its flyer promises music, theater and folkloric dance.

Closter Park is at 401 Towt Street, Salinas, 93905, and the City's Recreation and Parks office at (831) 758-7306 handles field permits and questions about the rules above.

If you live near Closter and are weighing what a renovated park like this means for your own block, whether you plan to stay or eventually sell, Ben Ottmar is glad to talk it through. Get in touch anytime.