02/20/2026
This week in the press you may have seen that The City of Red Bluff rejected the 2 bids that were received for the construction of the park revitalization project which includes The Big Splash. To eliminate everyone’s cause for concern I wanted to share a little bit about why and to assure you all that the project is still very much a GO. We anticipate this might cause a couple month delay at most.
For a little back story, The Soroptimist International of Red Bluff fundraised for a solid couple of years (2019-2021) raising $250,000 to build the splash park. We have so far spent approximately $75,000 building a shade structure that is already at the park adjacent to where the splash pad will be, plus we incurred expenses in design and engineering and grant writing. We funded the grant writing operation and successfully landed $3 Million state of CA Prop68 RRT Grant, in partnership with the City of Red Bluff. The project grew from a “little” $500,000 splash pad to so much more— including pickleball courts, an amphitheater, fitness station, refreshed playground, restrooms, and so much more. (The money can only be used for THIS project. It can’t be used for the roads or for the jail or for anything else all you wild weirdos think the city is going to do with it). The City is discussing additional grant opportunities which maybe possible for furthering this project, but we certainly cannot count on those funds at this point.
We designed the most beautiful park for Red Bluff and put it up for bid last month. Unfortunately the bids came in and our total job cost including all costs, just north of $4M. With only $3M to spend, and a deadline to meet to be in compliance with our grant, we must scale back and press forward. The design will be edited and the bid package will be re advertised very soon.
We hope that we did not disappoint our contractors that have already submitted and hope they will resubmit. It’s just the harsh reality that we have a budget that we have to stick with. And hope to see more competition and sharper rates.
I personally will continue to pound the pavement seeking additional donations to cover a few more items to help lighten the load. I am hoping to source funds for trash cans, lounge chairs, another shade element, The Big Splash Sign, tile mosaics, and funds for other key materials that can be purchased in advance. I’ll shamelessly post the Soroptimist Club’s PayPal link in the comments for individual donations. Or donations may also be made at Plumas Bank in the “Soroptimist Big Splash Account”.
I have so many people to thank for helping me to see this project through, so many stake holders, so many supporters and individual and corporate donors. THANK YOU ALL for helping to make this mama’s dream come true. Hang in there Red Bluff, I’ll see you at The Big Splash soon. 💙💦
