ANAHEIM, Calif. — Imagine riding a bicycle to the Honda Center to catch a game, kayaking along the Santa Ana River with Angel Stadium in the background or walking on top of a deck and admiring the river and lush landscape.
As Anaheim officials look to revitalize the Santa Ana River Trail, those are all possibilities.
Once a homeless encampment, city officials look to transform the Santa Ana River Trail into a community amenity and regional and tourist destination.
And they are seeking the public's help in the design.
"We want to hear from you because ultimately, you are the future users of this trail, and you should be part of this process and part of the design team," said Ana Straabe, a principal project planner at the city of Anaheim during a community workshop about the project, in December.
As the city prepares to help host the 2028 Summer Olympics, Anaheim is seeking public input on the future of a 1.2-mile portion of the Santa Ana River Trail.
The Santa Ana River Trail is a nearly 58-mile multi-use recreational path that sits along the Santa Ana River and stretches from South Waterman Avenue in San Bernardino to Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach.
The city is working on the so-called OC River Walk project, within the Santa Ana River Trail, between Ball Road and Orangewood Avenue.
The 1.2-mile area is in the city's growing Platinum Triangle and sits adjacent to Angel Stadium, the Anaheim Regional Intermodal Transportation Hub and Honda Center.
Currently, Anaheim's portion of the Santa Ana River corridor is "a rock-lined trapezoidal channel for stormwater conveyance and water resource management," Anaheim officials said.
The river has no water.
Officials said the corridor protects the adjacent lands from flooding in large storm events. However, it lacks engagement and integration with the community.
In the mid-2010s, the corridor became a homeless encampment with more than 1,000 unhoused individuals setting up makeshift homes made of blue tarps and camping tents with front-row views of Angel Stadium. The area smelled rancid. The county cleared out the encampment in 2018.
The city began looking into transforming the corridor in the mid-2000s. Still, it wasn't until 2021 that it completed a feasibility study after receiving a $5 million grant from the state's Coastal Conservancy to plan and design the city's river trail.
The study includes the possibility of creating a pedestrian and bicycle bridge, installing public education and art along the trail, adding water to the river for water activities, providing areas for nature walks, running courses and more.
The idea is to complement the design of the surrounding area, namely Angel Stadium and the Honda Center, which is undergoing a multi-billion dollar project called OC V!be. The Honda Center has been selected as the venue to host indoor volleyball for the Los Angeles 2028 Summer Olympics.
The goal is to revitalize and transform the river corridor and connect and unite the region, OC River Walk officials said during a community workshop.
Anaheim spokeswoman Erin Ryan said there's no solid timetable yet to complete the project.
The design phase is only one step in a multi-step process.
"It's too soon to have a solid end date," said Ryan to Spectrum News. "We would love to have the features and elements funded, and the completion really depends on grant funding."
Ryan added the city plans to host four more workshops in the spring and one pop-up event at a place yet to be determined.
For now, the city wants the community to weigh in on what they would like to see along the river's trail.
The public could check out OCRiverwalk.com, take a survey and sign up for project updates.