Overview

Although it comprises only 0.34 acres at the corner of Victoria and Maple Streets in Costa Mesa, Calif., Ketchum-Libolt Park is very important to the residents who live nearby. That's because recreational open space is limited in Costa Mesa. A welcome respite, the park offers several amenities, including shade, seating, playground equipment, and 3,795 square feet of SpectraPour Supreme safety surfacing.

Key Challenges and Solutions

Ketchum-Libolt Park is so revered that it received a $1.2 million budget allocation from Assembly Member Cottie Petrie-Norris (D-Irvine) in July 2022, which kick-started a community engagement campaign to gather feedback from residents for the park's redesign. The campaign included meetings held at the park and surveys conducted in 2023 and 2024 during the project design phase.

In 2025, Ketchum-Libolt Park was dedicated to two Costa Mesa police officers, James "Dave" Ketchum and John "Mike" Libolt, who were killed in a helicopter crash on March 10, 1987. Staff also contacted the Ketchum and Libolt families for input during the park's design phase.

After the design consultants shared the park's conceptual drawings, they asked residents to choose their favorite potential park themes and features. Several residents and their children enjoyed music, food, and the City's Mobile Rec games while voting on various elements and images that would help shape a cohesive vision for the expanded park and its amenities.

In January 2026, Costa Mesa began expanding and upgrading Ketchum-Libolt Park's amenities, with construction scheduled for completion by summer 2026. The new park improvements include additional entry points, shade shelters, picnic tables, a drinking fountain, landscaping and irrigation, play equipment, and SpectraPour Supreme safety surfacing.

SpectraPour Supreme is the safety surfacing system of choice for critical fall areas in locations known for extreme weather, abundant sunshine, and year-round outdoor activity. The surface features a higher-density, smaller-particle-size (0.5-1.5 mm Spectra TPV granule) top layer bonded with a high-quality, UV-stable aliphatic binder over a shock-absorbing rubber base pad. These features extend the playground surface's expected service life while reducing overall maintenance costs.

Because SpectraPour Supreme is mixed on-site, it offers flexibility for incorporating colors, designs, and shapes into the surface. It can also be used to provide ADA access to existing playgrounds, retrofit existing play areas, or install high-quality rubber surfacing throughout new playgrounds that remains securely in place during use.

The renovation of Ketchum-Libolt Park's playground was completed in conjunction with Coast Recreation – LSI Equipment, Elegant Construction, Architerra Design Group (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.), and the City of Costa Mesa.