With fresh themes and changes that could benefit many types of users, plans are underway to upgrade Robb Field and Dusty Rhodes Park in Ocean Beach.
Partial funding for the upgrades was made available after SeaWorld and the city of San Diego agreed in January to an $8.5 million settlement of a years-long dispute over unpaid rent from SeaWorld during the COVID-19 pandemic.
About $3.6 million is to be used at Robb Field and $719,629 at Dusty Rhodes Park, according to the city.
Plans are moving forward for upgrades at Robb Field and Dusty Rhodes Park in Ocean Beach. (Bing Maps and Point Loma-OB Monthly)
Projects at both parks are to include a new “comfort station” (restrooms) and playground and parking lot improvements, city officials say.
They are among 11 park locations across San Diego that are receiving nearly $8 million in allocations as a result of a City Council vote in June.
“San Diegans have been asking for new bathrooms, safer playgrounds and upgraded facilities —and that’s exactly what we’re delivering,” Mayor Todd Gloria said at the time. “These are real improvements that will make our parks cleaner, safer and better for everyone.”
Robb Field
Robb Field, at 2525 Bacon St., has long been a source of complaints from park users, ranging from safety concerns about the restrooms to potholes in the parking area.
Parents say they often won’t let their young children enter the restrooms without a chaperone and that the parking lot has become a refuge of sorts for people living in their vehicles.
Andrea Schlageter, chairwoman of the Ocean Beach Planning Board, says she’s well aware of such concerns, as she grew up playing softball at Robb Field.
Discussions about upgrading the parks have been going on for at least a decade, she said.
“The parks serve not just OB but bigger communities throughout the area, and they are finally getting some attention,” Schlageter said. “It’s absolutely exciting, especially because the work has been so long delayed.”
The Robb Field work includes new security cameras and pedestrian lighting, stormwater mitigation and landscape and site furnishings, according to city spokesman Tyler Becker.
Becker said the projects underwent a General Development Plan amendment process in 2023 that included several public meetings and concluded with Parks and Recreation Board approval in February 2024. Project design started last September.
The Robb Field playground will be replaced with two separate play areas, Becker said. New walkways will connect the parking lot to the playground, and the handball courts will be moved to accommodate a future recreation center.
The existing comfort station will be replaced, and the new facility, located on the east side of the park’s entry drive, will match its capacity but include larger storage rooms.
The parking lot will be repaved and repainted, and drainage issues will be improved, Becker said. Disabled-access features and security lights will be upgraded, and the community garden will be relocated.
The new comfort station is expected to cost a total of $4.92 million, the new playground $3.97 million and the parking lot improvements $11.73 million, according to information from the San Diego Engineering & Capital Projects Department.
The comfort station is described as fully funded, while the playground and parking elements are described as partially funded.
Project construction is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2027, with completion in the first quarter of 2029, according to city projections.
Dusty Rhodes Park
Design for the projects at Dusty Rhodes Park, at 2469 Sunset Cliffs Blvd., started in April 2021, Becker said.
Changes there will include a fresh beach theme with modern colors and age-appropriate structures for children.
A rendering illustrates projects planned at Dusty Rhodes Park in Ocean Beach. (City of San Diego)
A new restroom building with a surf shack theme will replace the current one and will feature several all-gender toilets as well as outdoor lavatories and drinking fountains.
Parking lots will be repaved and repainted.
A new playground area will be partially covered in a rubber play surface. Structures will include an umbrella-covered one suitable for children ages 2-5 and an area with a lifeguard tower/surf shack theme for ages 5-12.
Structures for older youngsters are to include climbing rocks connected by rope bridges; swings, including a disabled-accessible swing ride; a net climber and a track ride, in which a child sits on a seat at one end of the structure and rides to the other end.
Other attractions for children include surfboard- or sea mammal-themed spring rides, a bodyboard ride, beach-themed games, and opportunities to practice their musical skills on oversize drums, chimes and metallophones.
Details of the planned new Dusty Rhodes Park playground are shown in a close-up rendering. (City of San Diego)
Large shade shelters will be built, new faux rock walls will double as seating and there will be new benches.
A new swale for stormwater management will be complemented by a palette of native, drought-tolerant plants. Many new shade trees also are proposed.
In addition, several new walkways are proposed throughout the park, including a new 9-foot-wide disabled-accessible path.
The Dusty Rhodes restroom project is expected to cost $2.77 million, the playground $5.21 million and the parking lot improvements $1.79 million.
The playground is fully funded, according to Engineering & Capital Projects data, while the comfort station and parking lot are described as partially funded.
Construction is expected to start in the third quarter of 2026, with completion in the first quarter of 2027, the city says.
“At Dusty Rhodes, parts of the park were torn down years ago and they’ve been removing things for years and not replacing them,” Schlageter said. “We want to make sure people can enjoy it.”
Schlageter said she hopes the plans will be presented to the OB Planning Board at an upcoming meeting so it has an opportunity to provide feedback.
“I’m excited about the upgrades, but I want to see the plans and make sure our different recreational programs and all the bases are being covered,” she said. “We want to make sure that what the OB Recreation Center is doing is complementary to what is happening with the parks so there are plenty of options for everyone.”