On Costa Mesa's Westside, the Playgrounds Arrive First and the Clubhouse Waits

On Monday, Oct. 12, three police helicopters flew over the reopening of a small park on Costa Mesa's Westside. They came from the Anaheim and Huntington Beach police departments and the Orange County Sheriff's Department, and the park was Ketchum-Libolt. The City of Costa Mesa reported that the ceremony opened with the Police Honor Guard and ended with the flyover, and that children were climbing the new equipment before the program was over.

That park is finished. About a mile away, Shalimar Park is still behind construction fencing. The new building its neighbors asked for has an approved concept and an estimated cost, but no money to build it. The Fairview Park bluffs are further back, still in a two-year design contract. Much of the money behind all three projects came from state allocations made in 2022, and that money is arriving in a clear order. Playgrounds and turf get built first. The building and the bluff are the pieces still waiting on a construction date.

What's at Maple and Victoria now

Ketchum-Libolt Park sits at 2150 Maple Street, near Victoria Street. Costa Mesa Public Works expanded the old park into the unused parkway next to it, which brought it to 24,000 square feet. The project cost $2.5 million. Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris earmarked $1.2 million of that in the 2022 state budget.

The Daily Pilot reported that the equipment was picked through outreach meetings with neighbors and community stakeholders. Here is what's there now:

• Play equipment with a public-safety theme and rubber surfacing underneath, including a helicopter for kids to climb on
• A lawn, plus shade and picnic shelters
• Concrete and paver walkways and improved lighting
• Mosaics and markers about the two officers the park is named for
• Poetry written by community members, stamped into the concrete, according to the Orange County Register

The poetry is easy to miss because it's underfoot. Read the paths before you head for the swings.

Why the names are on the sign

The park first opened in August 2005. It honors Costa Mesa Police Senior Officers James "Dave" Ketchum and John "Mike" Libolt, who died in a police helicopter crash on March 10, 1987. At the reopening, Chaplain Dave Brooks spoke. He is a former Costa Mesa Police captain, a friend of both officers, and he was on duty the day of the crash. He recognized the officers' families in the crowd.

Public Works Director Raja Sethuraman told the city that the team "attempted to recognize the officers and police department" in several parts of the design, so the mosaics, markers and equipment "will continue to inform current and future generations." Police Chief Joyce LaPointe said in a statement carried by the Orange County Register:

"When someone asks about the names on the sign, we have a story to share about service, courage, sacrifice and two officers whose commitment to Costa Mesa is still remembered."

The memorial was designed into the equipment and the paving, so it arrived with the playground in the same project and on the same day.

A mile over, Shalimar Park is next in line

The Daily Pilot describes Shalimar Park as a half-acre park about a mile from Ketchum-Libolt. It's being rebuilt with a sports theme for $2.3 million, including $1 million from then-Sen. Dave Min. The city's contract register lists Micon Construction, Inc. as the contractor under a Jan. 20, 2026 agreement. Local officials held the groundbreaking on May 27, 2026.

The city's construction notice to neighbors lists themed play equipment, swings, a multi-use court, LED lighting, new landscaping and irrigation, and a larger park footprint. The Daily Pilot adds a mini-pitch soccer area. As of mid-October, the park was expected to reopen early next year, meaning early 2027.

The second piece of the Shalimar project is the lot next door, and it is moving on a different schedule.

The community center is what neighbors asked for first

On Oct. 6, the City Council chose between two concepts for the lot. One had a multi-use sports court, outdoor fitness equipment and open space. The other was the community center. Parks Director Brian Gruner told the council the preference was clear from the start. "From Day 1 we heard, 'We want a community center or a clubhouse here,'" he said, as reported by the Daily Pilot.

The request goes back to 2024, when the nonprofit Think Together stopped offering programs from a residential complex near the park. Eric Jimenez founded BRIGHT Youth, a grassroots group that runs programs and events for Shalimar youth. He told the council that the neighborhood "has been craving a healthy space for enrichment ever since."

The council approved the concept, but approval doesn't come with money. Public works officials put the building at around $2 million, and that amount isn't in the budget, so the center won't be built when the park reopens. In the meantime, the city plans to put shade sails and seating on the lot and start designing the center. That work will use roughly $500,000 left over from the Shalimar and Ketchum-Libolt budgets. The Ketchum-Libolt leftovers are now paying to design the building at Shalimar.

Fairview's bluffs are on a longer timeline

The biggest Westside project paid for from the same 2022 money is also the furthest from construction. Min's $10 million allocation, announced by the city in July 2022, covered Fairview Park, Shalimar, Jack Hammett Sports Complex and TeWinkle athletic facilities.

In April 2026, the council gave Psomas a two-year, $533,189 contract for design, environmental planning and cultural resource management on Fairview's West Bluffs. The Daily Pilot reported that the full restoration should cost about $2 million, with about $1.6 million of that for construction and landscaping.

Fairview takes longer than a neighborhood playground because of the site itself. The park covers 208 acres along the lower Santa Ana River corridor. It provides habitat for the San Diego fairy shrimp, the California gnatcatcher and the least Bell's vireo, and it contains sites of cultural significance to the Tongva and Acjachemen tribes. The fix could be planting that holds the slope together with roots, or it could be retaining walls. Walls might need voter approval under Measure AA, a local measure that sends potentially impactful construction at Fairview Park to the ballot. "We want simple," Councilmember Andrea Marr said at the April meeting. "We want sustainable."

So the projects are arriving in order of how complicated they are. The memorial playground on Maple Street went from a 2022 earmark to an October ribbon-cutting. Shalimar's half-acre sports park is due early next year, and the community center next to it will come later, once it has its own funding. Fairview's bluff, with endangered species, cultural sites and a possible ballot measure, is still in design. This week, Ketchum-Libolt at 2150 Maple Street is the one you can actually walk into, with the officers' story in the mosaics and the poetry in the paths. For more on what's happening around the city, see our Costa Mesa neighborhood guide and our look at Costa Mesa this fall.

New parks, community centers and long-planned restorations change how a neighborhood works long before they show up in any listing. If you'd like to talk about what the Westside park work means for your street or your plans, Vanessa Moore is happy to walk through it with you. Let's Connect.