PlaceWorks

PlaceWorks recently joined California State Parks for a site visit at Bidwell Mansion State Historic Park as part of Reimagine Bidwell Mansion SHP, a planning process to help determine the future of the site following the December 2024 fire while honoring the park’s extensive and layered histories.

The site visit helped ground the early stages of the planning process before the first round of broader community engagement. Since then, the online survey has closed with more than 1,000 responses, and California State Parks and PlaceWorks conducted a virtual community workshop where participants shared their hopes for future generations, questions about treatment options for the fire-damaged structure, and ideas for interpretation, programming, community use, and the park’s long-term role in Chico’s civic life.

Next, the project team will synthesize community input, technical information, and stakeholder perspectives into potential alternatives for public review this summer. We’re grateful to everyone who has taken the time to participate and help shape the next chapter of this deeply meaningful place.

You can visit the project website to learn more: https://www.myinput.com/reimaginebidwellmansion

PlaceWorks recently joined California State Parks staff for a site visit to Delta Meadows and the Locke Boarding House and hosted an in-person community workshop as part of the park classification and general plan process. We heard thoughtful feedback from neighbors and community members about their vision for the park and their ideas for future improvements, which will help shape the planning process moving forward.

Delta Meadows and the Locke Boarding House are especially meaningful places because they bring together layered natural and cultural histories. Delta Meadows offers a rare glimpse of a Delta landscape that still reflects how this region functioned before widespread reclamation transformed so much of the surrounding area into agricultural land, while the Locke Boarding House sits within the Locke Historic District, a National Historic Landmark recognized as the most intact surviving rural Chinese American community in the United States. The area is also part of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area.