Riverside is moving ahead with a $12 million plan to transform Martha McLean-Anza Narrows Park, the 40-acre riverside space at 5759 Jurupa Ave. long known for its disc golf course but little else in the way of family amenities. The city council voted on Sept. 1, 2026 to accept a $6 million grant that covers half the project's cost, but officials still need to find the remaining $6 million before full-scale construction can begin.
The grant comes from the California State Coastal Conservancy, and according to the Press-Enterprise, Riverside's Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department now plans to seek additional funding before breaking ground. As reported by the Raincross Gazette, the council's formal acceptance authorizes a $6 million increase in the city's Grants and Restricted Programs Fund, and no local matching funds are required to unlock that portion of the money.
What Riverside Actually Wants to Build
Despite its heavy use for disc golf, the park currently lacks standard family features like restrooms and playgrounds, and a community survey ranked restrooms, shade and native plants as residents' top three requests, per the Raincross Gazette's reporting on city staff findings. The planned upgrades include open meadows, a nature play area, a new playground, exercise stations and swings overlooking the river itself.
The planned design includes a recirculating water play arroyo, an outdoor classroom for river camps, a small bandshell, terraced river steps and native pollinator gardens. Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson said the funds will greatly assist efforts to connect Riversiders with the river, according to the Press-Enterprise.
Blocking Off-Roaders and Reducing Fire Risk
Beyond play equipment, city planners have emphasized that a primary objective of the redesign is preventing unauthorized vehicles from accessing the river through habitat improvements and landscaping. The Raincross Gazette reports that this off-roading has caused environmental degradation and escalated wildfire risks along the corridor. The new design is also expected to expand access to the Santa Ana River Trail, according to the Press-Enterprise.
That fire concern isn't abstract. Riverside firefighters responded to 848 vegetation and rubbish fires in open spaces in 2023, while code enforcement crews hauled more than 267 tons of trash out of roughly 730 riverbed encampments along the Santa Ana River corridor, figures Hoodline previously detailed in its coverage of a separate homeless encampment sweep at Fairmount Park. Hoodline has also reported on the broader wildfire pressures facing the region, including an August blaze in Jurupa Valley and a May incident in which drone activity briefly grounded aerial firefighting support near the river bottom.
A Park Built on Preserved History
A historic connection remains part of the site's identity. The park lies along the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail, according to Wikipedia. The park's namesake, activist Martha McLean, fought in the 1960s to stop the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from channelizing the Santa Ana River in concrete, according to the Inlandia Institute.
The park is adjacent to the Santa Ana River Trail, according to the Riverside Convention & Visitors Bureau. Community groups have already stepped in to help protect that stretch of river: the nonprofit Inland Empire Waterkeeper adopted the park in April 2024 in partnership with the city's parks department, and its monthly volunteer cleanups collected more than 1,600 pounds of riverbed trash in their first three events alone.
Part of a Larger State Push
Riverside's $6 million award was part of the park project's funding, while a separate statewide $44 million award program also exists. The Anza Narrows overhaul also follows a separate $10 million citywide park maintenance project completed in 2025, which resurfaced 15 parks, replaced playground equipment at seven parks, repaired parking lots at seven parks, replaced floors in three community centers, repaired heating and air conditioning systems at 10 park buildings, and used $8 million in federal funds to build a new gymnasium at Bordwell Park on Martin Luther King Boulevard. With half of the Anza Narrows funding still to be secured, the timeline for construction remains an open question for city officials.
