Despite having just earned their sixth National Baseball Congress World Series National Championship, the Santa Barbara Foresters baseball team has no place to play in town.
In 1968, as superintendent of the city recreation department, I addressed the City Council and Planning Commission regarding the state of recreation programs and facilities at the time. We had two aging sports venues — Pershing Park and Laguna Park. Pershing Park was the historic home of men's and women's softball, while Laguna acted as the home of the Dodgers' farm team and the Santa Barbara Foresters. It was also a very important facility for the Recreation Department Youth Baseball Programs. I recommended that the two parks be retained and refurbished. The council wanted to demolish both venues along with Los Baños pool. The pool was later saved by the efforts of aquatic supporters.
Santa Barbara City College in 1962 was slated to expand, but it needed a commitment from the city for some 20 acres and use of municipal facilities. This included the Pershing Park softball field complex, tennis courts, Los Baños pool, La Playa Stadium, and Leadbetter Beach parking. Mutual use and maintenance was to be scheduled to meet the needs of both entities. The agreement was reached in late August 1962 and amended six or seven times since. A necessity in the agreement was a baseball diamond to be built at Pershing Park, which required the removal of the grandstands and a reconfiguration of the fields. It was stated that a softball complex would be built later at Las Positas Park.