A big makeover for Petaluma’s smallest ‘park’

The tiny downtown Petaluma corner space that’s home to the statue commemorating the late Bill Soberanes and his arm wrestling legacy has received a face lift, and it’s on its way to becoming a small pocket park with the combined efforts of volunteers and the city.

The corner lot near the intersection of Washington Street and Petaluma Boulevard North has received increased attention in the past few months after John Maher, also known as “Petaluma Pete,” launched an online campaign to raise $5,000 to trim the trees, remove broken concrete, repair the sculpture base and add landscaping and park benches.

“It’s the first thing people see when they drive into the town,” he said. “When the park looks good, it makes a good first impression of the city.”

City staff took note of the GoFundMe campaign, which raised nearly $400, and decided to lend a hand in the cleanup efforts of the small 30-foot-by-50-foot vacant city-owned lot, according to Ron DeNicola, Petaluma’s parks and landscape manager. City crews patched up the concrete this June, and trimmed the trees and remove juniper branches flanking the Thai Issan restaurant last month, he said.

“We wanted to get the place cleaned up a bit, it’s easy enough to do rather than wait for a longer fundraising effort,” he said, adding that the costs of the work hadn’t yet been tallied, but the bill was minor. “We said ‘let’s do our part and let John take it from there.’”

He said the city is responsible for maintenance in the small lot that’s not officially named or designated as a park, but a volunteer group has the option of adopting the space for ongoing beautification.

Maher, a Sonoma County Tourism Ambassador who’s known for his jovial piano playing around town, said Brenda, his wife of more than four decades, was recently diagnosed with stage four cancer, and he’s put the fundraising efforts on hold as he helps her liquidate the inventory of her downtown antique shop and aid with ongoing medical care.

He said he plans to take the effort back up to collect $2,000 to install benches, hire an expert to fix the base of the statue, add mulch and repaint the building wall by the end of the year.

“When I moved, I got a piano and started playing on the street to add ambiance to the downtown area, as just a way to say thank you. It’s the same mentality of what I’m using when I’m approaching that corner,” he said. “Bill Soberanes was quite a guy and an incredible promotional guy, and watching that park go to hell in a hand basket didn’t sit with me.”

Soberanes, who passed away in 2003, was a longtime Argus-Courier columnist who was known as “Mr. Petaluma.” He spearheaded efforts that became a solid part of the city’s legacy, including the ugly dog contest and the wrist-wrestling championships that were said to have began in a Petaluma saloon and eventually grew to international acclaim.

The statue, created by Petaluma sculptor Rosa Estebanez and cast in Sonoma by bronze sculptor Jim Callahan, was installed on the lot in 1988, according to the Petaluma Visitor’s Center. It’s since been a tourist attraction integrated into the city’s downtown, an area that’s populated with a collection of local merchants and other historical buildings.

Petaluma Downtown Association Executive Director Marie McCusker said the cleanup efforts give a boost to the image and draw of Petaluma’s central business district.

“It’s always important to promote people shopping locally,” she said. “We have amazing store owners and if you want to keep these stores, you have to make sure downtown is looking nice and shiny and welcoming.”

The revamp of the city space is among other volunteer-led projects the Petaluma, such as the recently approved C Street pocket park and more large-scale efforts at Walnut Park. Dan St. John, public works and utilities director, said the city is appreciative of the civic efforts.

“So much wouldn’t get done if we didn’t have great volunteers helping out in parks all around town,” he said.

To donate to the GoFundMe campaign, visit https://www.gofundme.com/wzs3uaqk.

(Contact Hannah Beausang at hannah.beausang@arguscourier.com. On Twitter @hannahbeausang.)