History

The Red Hill site is a 3.5 acre property located in San Anselmo, behind the Red Hill Shopping Center between Shaw Road and Sunny Hills Drive. The property is owned by the Tamalpais Union High School District (TUHSD). It was originally the playing fields and track for the Red Hill Middle School which closed in 1985. San Anselmo Parks and Recreation programs continued to use the playing fields until 1991 when school district budget cuts eliminated maintenance for Red Hill field.

In 1995 the Town of San Anselmo limited the off-leash dog activity at Memorial Park and the Red Hill field became the unofficial dog park for San Anselmo.

Since 1991 residents and community leaders in central Marin County have wanted to develop the site into a multi-use sports complex including baseball/softball diamonds and soccer/multi-use field by the San Anselmo Baseball Association and the Town of San Anselmo in conjunction with the school district. These attempts were unsuccessful mainly due to lack of agreement on a clear plan and the cost of ongoing maintenance.

In 1999 the school district agreed to enter into an exclusive agreement with The Branson School for Red Hill under which Branson would construct a soccer field and provide maintenance costs in exchange for priority usage. At that time there was discussion by citizens of San Anselmo expressing a desire for a more multi-use park. Branson later withdrew their proposal and entered into an agreement for field usage with the College of Marin.

After the demise of the Branson arrangement, and following the 1999 passage of a school bond to fund its facilities master plan, the Ross Valley School District built administration buildings on a portion of the property.

In March of 2001, after its own facilities bond measure passed, the Tamalpais Union High School District expressed interest in providing a soccer field for Drake High School. They later signed an agreement with the school district and the Town of San Anselmo to conduct a feasibility study for the development of a multi-use community park at Red Hill.

In November, 2002, a broad coalition of residents and community leaders of San Anselmo and nearby communities met with representatives of the Tam District and the Town of San Anselmo to discuss the feasibility of funding and building Red Hill Community Park. The Friends of Red Hill Community Park was born --- in regular monthly meetings the group, numbering over 50 and growing, formed a steering committee and subcommittees for design, public relations, and fundraising.

After almost a year of working out details, the Town and the Tam District signed a 20-year agreement to lease the property from the Ross Valley School District. Early in 2004, a Joint Powers Authority (JPA) formed to develop the new park and manage its ongoing use. Meanwhile, the Friends of Red Hill Community Park were holding open public meetings to brainstorm the design aspects of the new park. The many diverse ideas and opinions were blended into a majority-supported design, which was approved by the JPA, and also the Town Council of San Anselmo and the Ross Valley School District.

In fall of 2004, ideas of incorporating a baseball diamond in the park resulted in a revision of the preliminary park design. The design concept includes:

On March 28, 2006 the Town of San Anselmo gave final approval to the park design. This was the last local approval needed for the park. The design was then forwarded to the State of California for review and approval.

A supplemental Tamalpais High School Bond was passed in June of 2006. One of the provisions of the bond was an allocation of at least $750,000 for the creation of Red Hill Community Park. It is hoped that this money together with community donations will allow both phases of the park to be completed at the same time, saving the taxpayers substantial amounts of money.

In the summer of 2007, the Marin Community Foundation contributed $325,000 towards the construction of Red Hill Community Park. Also during the summer of 2007 the Marin County Board of Supervisors, led by Hal Brown, provided an additional $100,000 to the Red Hill Park project.

In the summer of 2008 several steps happened that allowed us to break ground for the new park. First, the Tamalpais Union High School District (TUHSD) agreed in principle to contribute the funds needed to complete Phase I, contingent on approvals from the Ross Valley Unified School District and the Town of San Anselmo. Second, the Ross Valley Unified School District (RVSD) agreed to sell the property to the TUHSD for $1 (with the ability to purchase the property back at any time for the same $1 amount). This allowed the TUHSD to assume the responsibility for maintenance of the property. Finally, the Town of San Anselmo held a special meeting to review the merits of an appeal to a prior approval to move forward in building the park. The appeal was denied allowing the park construction to begin.

The official ground-breaking ceremony was held on July 19, 2008. The completion of Phase I of the project is slated to be completed by December of 2008.