KERNVILLE, Calif. (KERO) – Jami Ward, owner of Riverside Grill, was approaching the two-month anniversary of the restaurant’s opening when she learned of Riverside Park’s complete closure.
- Jami Ward says her new restaurant, Riverside Grill, will be affected by the closure of nearby Riverside Park, which attracts a lot of foot traffic.
- On March 10, 2023, Riverside Park was severely damaged after extremely high water levels in the Kern River flooded large parts of the park.
- The Riverside Park restoration project is scheduled to take place from August 2024 to January 2025. During this time, Riverside Park will be completely closed.
- The estimated cost of this project is approximately $1.4 million.
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“I was driving to work, saw the fence and immediately panicked. I asked a construction worker and he told me the park would be completely closed off for about four to six months,” said Jami Ward, owner of Riverside Grill.
Ward recounts how she learned about the repairs being done at Riverside Park, which was completely closed off for construction on Wednesday.
“The park needed to be repaired. But we should have been informed,” Ward said.
Ward opened the Riverside Grill on June 12 and said the restaurant relies heavily on foot traffic from park visitors.
Their restaurant has both an indoor dining area and an outdoor window.
“I spent a lot of money on my food order for this weekend because it is the weekend before school starts in Kern County,” Ward said.
“We knew it was coming, we just didn’t know exactly when and we didn’t know if it would be phased or not,” said Orion Sanders, president of the Kernville Chamber of Commerce.
Sanders said he didn’t know the project was starting until he saw the fence being built.
“After several discussions with the district, it is clear to us that it is important to stop the whole thing immediately so that all the earthworks can be done at the same time,” said Sanders.
Ally Triolo, chief communications officer for Kern County, told me that the contractor’s availability was one of the reasons for the sudden start.
“We met with the contractor and he was able to start immediately, which was great news. Once the board approved it on July 30, we were able to start almost immediately and because of that the community was able to see the fence being erected.”
Renovations at Riverside Park are expected to be completed by January 2025. The fence will remain in place throughout this time.
The total cost of the project is $1.4 million and includes numerous improvements to the park.
“There will be new walkways, new picnic tables, benches and a completely new basketball court, improved exercise equipment, playground equipment, barbecue areas and of course we have to make sure all maintenance processes like irrigation and power are up to date. We are having turf laid.”
Triolo told 23ABC that Kern County is working on a plan for additional repairs along the riverfront in Riverside Park – but there is currently no timeline for that project.
One section is left open for access to the river but does not have a safe walkway.
Ward says she hopes for stronger warnings about the closure for tourists after seeing a group of dinghy riders.
“They were out with the hoses and didn’t know about the fence. Then they got out, ran over the fence with their hoses and jumped over it.”
Ward wants information about the project to be more easily accessible.
“It would be great if there were signs. People come and don’t know what’s going on,” Ward said.
“We have to look at the big picture. And the big picture is that once everything is done, we’re going to have more visitors here than ever before,” Sanders said.
And there are some customers that the project will bring –
“I would just add that the construction workers have been great. They are supporting local businesses because they feel for us. They understand that this is having a huge impact on our businesses and they are doing their best to support all of us and we appreciate that.”
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