The magicians, picnickers, transients and cornhole players of San Luis Obispo have found a new hangout spot – Mitchell Park.
The three-acre park, surrounded by Santa Rosa, Pismo, Buchon and Osos streets, is the oldest park in San Luis Obispo. The central location of Mitchell Park has its advantages and disadvantages for the city.
“(The homeless) all hang out at Mitchell Park during the day and lay out in the sun,” said Sean Devine, San Luis Obispo Parks & Recreation Facility supervisor and recreation administration senior. “They usually take it over in the morning, and then at night is when some weird stuff happens.”
Various types of activities take place in Mitchell Park, most of which have no connection to city-planned events. Yoga and karate groups meet in the park in the morning, and cornhole players (a game that involves tossing bean bags into the hole of a raised platform) can be found some evenings, Devine said.
Mitchell Park is unique in the fact that it is surrounded by a church, a children’s playground, a senior center and a liquor store, making it a haven for weird happenings in the city.
The park was once the meeting place for Fluid Lüminescence, a group of circus arts performers. Fluid Lüminescence began meeting in Mitchell Park in fall 2005 and is known for their fire performances. The group now practices in Grover Beach, Calif.
CodePINK, a local women’s activist group for peace, has an annual spring rally in Mitchell Park. United for Peace & Justice, a local group against the war in Iraq, has also held rallies in the park.
Mitchell Park is also known as the host to some events during Cal Poly Week of Welcome, a program that orients new students to the campus and San Luis Obispo. Each fall, thousands of students participating in the program eat lunch in Mitchell Park on Tuesday of the orientation week.
On the weekends, Mitchell Park attracts people of all ages. Families surround the area near the children’s playground and many couples can be spotted eating a picnic lunch on the open grass areas.
“(Mitchell Park) is definitely the most used (of the parks in San Luis Obispo) and it’s in a densely-populated area,” Devine said. “There’s graffiti – SLO crime – which isn’t a lot. There are people who hang out in the park at night. It is really dark because there aren’t a lot of street lights.”
Jake Roberts, a visitor to San Luis Obispo, frequents Mitchell Park because “it’s a peaceful place.” Roberts enjoys his time at the park but sees “a lot of drunks on occasion.”
Mitchell Park has become a gathering area for transients because of its close proximity to the train station. Mission Plaza, a previous gathering area for transients and the homeless, now has security guards, which has caused more people to loiter in Mitchell Park, Devine said.
Tim Farrel, a materials engineering senior at Cal Poly, recently saw two police Suburbans and two Crown Victoria police cars on the grass of Mitchell Park at night. The police had their headlights on and were surrounding an empty park bench. It is unknown what the incident was regarding.
Mitchell Park has recently become an issue for controversy and debate between the Senior Center and local residents.
Many seniors are hoping for the addition of a parking lot behind the Senior Center, which is located on the Santa Rosa side of the park. The lot would add parking spaces for seniors only and would require paving over part of the park. It would also require the removal of one of the city’s designated cultural heritage trees.
The parking lot would include less than 20 spaces and would be located behind the Senior Center, where there is currently a shuffleboard area and horseshoe pit. The future of Mitchell Park will be discussed by the San Luis Obispo City Council next month, Devine said.