"I remember the day they closed it," Mayor Steve Burdo said in late February, when the Town Council voted unanimously to lease the concrete plaza over San Anselmo Creek back from the county, as the Marin Independent Journal reported. The deal costs $1 a month for three years, and the plan was to reopen the plaza that spring.
Spring and summer have both passed and the fence is still up. Over the summer the Town decided to fix the bridge under the plaza while it builds a larger, redesigned Creek Park. Under that plan the plaza has no separate reopening date. It reopens when the new park does.
Four Years Behind Chain Link
Most of the plaza's history comes from the Town and the county going back and forth over the structure underneath it, a century-old span the county calls Building Bridge 2.
- 2020: During the pandemic, the Town leased the bridge, set out picnic tables and wood chips, and turned several nearby parking spaces into parklets.
- 2022: The county ended the lease over concerns that the structure could be unstable. It fenced off most of the surface. The parklets and some sidewalk tables stayed.
- Early 2026: The Federal Emergency Management Agency said it would not approve removing the bridge, which had been part of the county's flood-control plans.
- February 2026: The Town renewed its lease with the county.
- May 5, 2026: The Flood Control District Board of Supervisors canceled the Building Bridge 2 removal project.
The last step matters most. For years the Town planned Creek Park around a bridge it expected to disappear. When the cancellation kept the bridge, the plaza on top of it became something the Town could design around. In August, Councilmember Eileen Burke told the Council that the county's reversal was unexpected and that the plaza had been "closed off now for what, three or four years."
The Spring Reopening Ran Into an Engineering Report
In March the outlook was hopeful. Public Works Director Sean Condry told the Council the Town had "just removed probably 100,000 pounds of dead load from the structure." Even then, the Town's announcement said public use could resume only after a licensed structural engineer confirmed the platform could safely handle it.
The review found that parts of the structure need reinforcing before anyone can use it again. According to the Town's August 11 staff report, the lease requires the platform to be structurally sound before public use, and the Town has hired Miller Pacific Engineering to design the fix. A Marin County update from June 29 said the plaza would stay closed while that work was sorted out.
Why the Repair Now Waits for the Park
The same staff report explains the timing. The county had not yet given the Flood Control District the money for the repairs, though Town staff said they were ready to start once it arrived. They also said they were "working to complete the structural improvements at the same time the larger Creek Park Project is constructed," to reduce disruption to the public and make the project more efficient to carry out.
So the plaza can't reopen on its own. The repair shares a schedule with the redesign, and the redesign has its own list of steps to get through.
The county's latest word is a Flood Control Zone 9 Advisory Board staff report dated October 8, 2026. It repeats that the platform needs more engineering assessment and structural reinforcement before it can open. It says the Town will coordinate the work, the District is expected to pay for it, and the money will come from funds the County makes available to the District. The Town is expected to send its scope, schedule and cost estimates to the District in late 2026. Agreements and funding actions will come after that.
The same report covers something else at the site. There is an underground storage tank next to the bridge. District staff sent a site characterization report and an action plan to the Regional Water Quality Control Board. The plan calls for one or more monitoring wells, sampled periodically to confirm site conditions haven't changed in a way that would require further cleanup.
What the Council Chose on August 11
At a special meeting, the Council unanimously backed a "curvilinear terrace" plan from RHAA Landscape Architects, a Mill Valley firm the Town first hired in 2019 after a design competition. The concept turns the concrete deck into terraces with paths, shaded seating, stone walls, wooden decks and planting that slope up toward the redwood grove on the park's western edge.
The staff report describes the chosen option in detail:
- A street-level plaza with 8-person tables, plus bistro tables along the San Anselmo Avenue edge
- Several seating terraces between the street-level plaza and the upper deck, with ramps for ADA access
- The existing deck and picnic seating under the redwood grove, kept in place
- A restroom behind the upper deck
- Room for roughly 150 to 160 people
- Two fewer on-street parking spaces along San Anselmo Avenue
RHAA also offered a third option, a "town green." The consultants dropped it because of possible problems with putting soil or artificial turf on the bridge deck. Councilmembers asked who would maintain the larger park, how the redwood roots would be protected, and how to keep rodents out if people eat there. Several public commenters asked the Council to keep the parking.
Who Pays for What, and When
Two different pots of money are involved, which explains why accounts of the plaza's funding seem to conflict.
The structure. The October 8 county report expects the Flood Control District to pay for reinforcing Building Bridge 2, using funds the County provides.
The park design. A private, anonymous donor paid for RHAA's conceptual design work under an agreement the Council authorized on June 23, 2026. A second staff item on August 11 asked for authority to negotiate a donation that would cover RHAA's construction drawings and specifications, with no fiscal impact on the Town.
The next dates on the Town's calendar come from the staff report's "ambitious timeline." It targets a full plan set for January, followed by cost estimating and a fundraising strategy, with a return to the Council in February. Town Manager Dave Donery said all the work could be finished by early 2028, adding, "This is obviously pending successful fundraising," as the Marin IJ reported.
Pat Townsley, who founded Creekside Pizza & Taproom next to the plaza, has given his own timeline on the restaurant's community news page. He writes that the fence will not come down in 2026 and that structural work cannot begin until June 15, 2027 because of seasonal limits tied to creek flows. That date is his account. The Town and county documents tie the repair to funding and to construction of the park.
The Rest of Creek Park Kept Working Around the Fence
Only the street-front deck is closed. The park behind it has stayed in use. Townsley's page reports that the 22nd annual Beatles in the Park concert drew more than 800 people to Creek Park this year, with proceeds going to the San Anselmo Arts Commission. Comedy in the Park also played there this season.
The block next to the fence has new activity too. Townsley, who the IJ described in August as owning two restaurants next to the plaza, opened Tasty Delicious at 639 San Anselmo Avenue in the former Hilda's Coffee Shop, across the street from Creekside at 638. The Marin IJ covered the opening on September 29. The menu is burgers and shakes, daily hours have been 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. since October 5, and a breakfast service with Hilda's pancakes is planned for later this year.
On Friday evening, October 23, the Goblins' BOOtacular brings costumed trick-or-treating to participating businesses along San Anselmo Avenue from 5 to 7 p.m. Creekside says it will hand out candy and that the Golden Gate Garrison of the 501st Legion will be there in costume. The local calendar also lists a Día de Muertos celebration at Imagination Park on November 1 at 1 p.m.
The next public milestone for the plaza is the Council's return in February, when it is scheduled to see a full plan set and fundraising recommendations.
If you're following how projects like the Creek Park plaza could shape downtown San Anselmo over the next few years, Rick van der Wal is happy to talk through what he's seeing on the Avenue and what it may mean for your plans. Let's Connect.
