Chula Vista's Harborside Park set to reopen

CHULA VISTA, Calif. (FOX 5/KUSI) – Harborside Park on Chula Vista's westside is set to reopen after being closed for nearly two years.

"Doing good work so far, living up to that promise, and can’t wait to see it open again," said Roberto Ramirez with Strong Base Jiu Jitsu.

Preparations are underway at Harborside Park to reopen sometime this fall and community members are taking notice. Ramirez has been a strong advocate for bringing the park back to life.

"The park is literally a couple steps from our business. We’ve always wanted to do some sort of event at a park," said Ramirez.

Currently, the land looks like a clean slate compared to August 2022. The park was shut down due to a spike in crime and homeless encampments. 

Lacking a safe space for recreation in that part of town, residents repeatedly advocated for the city to save the park. Mayor John McCann joined them and eventually got full council support.

"Activate the park with positive things for our children and Harborside and make sure we don’t run into any of the other issues. We’ve had homeless encampments there, illegal drug a...