The Hanford City Council on Oct. 21 declined to move immediately to hardscape a roughly 4,000-square-foot grassy area in front of the Civic Auditorium, instead directing staff to retain grass through the 2026 season and revisit the issue following the winter events program and additional outreach.

Staff sought direction after a community survey and outreach showed a split response: while a portion of respondents favored hardscaping options (pavers, stamped concrete and other finishes), a plurality of survey respondents and several constituents told council they preferred keeping grass, citing shade and green-space concerns. Brian Johnson, the city’s communications manager, summarized the survey and said pavers were the most popular hardscape option among respondents who favored replacing grass; 309 respondents, Johnson reported, selected keeping the area as grass.

Why it matters

Civic Park’s front lawn hosts frequent public events including concerts, an annual “Winter Wonderland” ice rink and seasonal programs. The area’s heavy use creates recurring costs: staff said resodding after the winter rink is a recurring expense and the ice-rink footprint creates late-winter recovery issues for the sod. Staff estimated annual sod replacement and related work is a substantial recurring expense. Hardscaping would reduce resodding costs, lower water use and create a more durable event surface, but would require upfront capital and irreversibly change the downtown streetscape.

Survey, accessibility and staff analysis

City staff ran a one-week online survey open to the public and received responses that Johnson said provided “pretty good margin” in favor of keeping grass. For respondents who proceeded past the initial question, Johnson said pavers were the most popular hardscape finish. Staff also collected suggestions on design themes; downtown architecture and agricultural motifs were among the top-ranked themes.

Staff also received a mailed letter from a resident urging hardscaping on accessibility grounds: “I would like to see the Civic Park hardscaped. My husband is wheelchair bound. It’s difficult to wheel him around the park when the grass area is not level,” the letter said.

Public comment and technical constraints

Several residents urged hardscaping to speed winter-event turnaround and to improve wheelchair access; others and some council members favored keeping grass and warned that hardscaping would remove green space important to the downtown setting. Staff described technical constraints: the ice rink requires a laser-leveled sand base and the underlying irrigation and utilities can freeze in winter. Public Works staff noted the ground freeze in January can be severe and that burying irrigation deeper would not reliably prevent the seasonal freeze damage.

Council decision and next steps

After hearing staff and public comment, council reached consensus to leave the area as grass for 2026 and to continue public engagement on materials and design. Staff will present a final recommendation after the winter events season and a mid-year budget review (around February–March 2026) that will include net revenue from the winter program and more detailed cost estimates for any hardscaping option.

Speakers quoted

"If the park was hardscaped, then he can wheel himself independently," — excerpt from a letter from a resident sent to the city clerk describing accessibility concerns.

"The kind of main reason behind that... the ice rink takes a toll on that grass. And so by hardscaping it, we eliminate the need for resodding every year," — Brian Johnson, Communications Manager (staff presentation).

Provenance

Related discussion began when staff presented the Civic Park Hardscaping Project and survey results (transcript block starting at 5526.31). Council reached its interim decision to keep grass for 2026 and revisit after Winter Wonderland revenue and a mid-year budget review (decision discussion ended around transcript time 7366.705).