The Miracle
of Paradise Creek

Back in 1994, Margaret Godshalk, a teacher at Kimball Elementary School in National City, took her fifth graders to the creek flowing past their school, to look at wildlife. What the children first noticed, however, was the trash. They asked why the creek was so messy and who took care of it. That was the beginning.

Paradise Creek is a tidal creek on San Diego Bay. Upstream it’s almost completely paved over or channelized, but just east of the coastal highway a half-mile-long stretch has survived as a sliver of nature, flowing through an old neighborhood of small houses tucked among block-sized industrial structures, past a welding shop, an auto repair and detailing operation, a storage yard for heavy equipment, and past the school. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers straightened this stretch of the creek in the 1950s but did not encase it in concrete. As it flows into Paradise Marsh, part of the Sweetwater Marsh complex west of the freeway, the creek catches the eye because it is straight; it doesn’t meander, as tidal creeks naturally do. But its banks are green.

Margaret Godshalk grew up in National City, which lies north of Chula Vista and south of San Diego. She lives within walking distance of Paradise Creek, with her husband Ted and their small son. The population in the neighborhood of Kimball School is mostly Hispanic and of very low income.

That class excursion six years ago, with the children’s shocked questions, was the beginning of the Godshalks’ engagement with Paradise Creek—an engagement that flourished, and led to accomplishments they never could have imagined.

Ted, a city planning commissioner, became curious about the creek’s sorry condition and made inquiries. “It’s city-owned property but the city really didn’t maintain it,” he found. “They said it was under the jurisdiction of the Army Corps. Nobody was really interested.”

The children started to clean up the banks, with the Godshalks’ supervision.

“It was very much a joint venture,” said Margaret. “The students really wanted to do it.” As they worked, they saw crabs, horned snails, and egrets, as well as various wetland plants. Then Ted learned of a city plan to build a street across the creek, and imagined the egrets scared away, the children’s nature studies disrupted. “We figured the only way to keep the street from being built was to come up with a better idea,” he said.

One thing led to another. Ted approached the redevelopment agency: how about an educational park, a place where children could study a wetland? The redevelopment agency agreed to provide $5,000 for a concept plan for a park that would connect the creek, the school, and a small neglected park next to the school. Gary Ruyle, of Schmidt Design, produced a plan. Godshalk took it to the National School District officials and got their support. Then he went to the City Council, and got its approval. He could go ahead, he was told, if he could find the money.

At that time, Godshalk was preoccupied with his duties as a stay-at-home parent of a toddler, while Margaret taught at Kimball. Could he actually raise the substantial funds required? He decided to try, proceeding “in a series of small steps.”

He dropped by to see the city engineer, who discovered that some sidewalk money was available. That paid for a walkway. He engaged the interest of the City’s Parks and Recreation Department, which decided to assign Jim Ruiz, director of Parks and Recreation, to be project coordinator. That boosted the status of the proposed park. It was more than just an idea now. Ruiz persuaded the Public Works Department to offer an unused corner of its maintenance yard, so that an upland area could be added to the park. The fences that had blocked access to the stream were removed. Police offered to provide safety surveillance. One step led to the next, and support grew.

Thanks to a National City resident who works for Congressman Bob Filner, an application form arrived for the National Park Service’s Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program. Godshalk applied for help from the program and was approved. Peg Henderson, a planner, came down from San Francisco.

What she first saw was “a classic example of a neglected urban creek. It wasn’t real promising,” she said, “but the interesting part was, a community member was the chief proponent and he was very determined. Then I visited the site and sensed that it was something special. The contrast between the creek and the adjacent industrial uses is both stark and encouraging.”

Henderson’s technical assistance helped park advocates, who now included parents of Kimball children. A leaflet was published, in English and Spanish. The park was now a project in the making. “Peg’s help gave us the credibility we needed,” Ted said. “When we went to the city and said we had the National Park Service working on this project, I think it opened their eyes.”

Margaret and two other teachers won a grant from California State University Dominguez Hills “to further our development in wetland education and set up educational learning centers at the creek,” Margaret said. Meanwhile, Kimball School children presented the vision to the Kiwanis Club and other business groups.

Dan Greenwald, president of the National City Chamber of Commerce, was delighted by all these events. As owner of Greenwald’s Autobody and Frameworks, on the creek’s southern bank, for years he saw “an ugly mess” on the creek. “Trash, cups, tires, shopping carts . . . it was appalling,” he said. “When I saw the kids out there working on the creek, I said I’d gladly support them.” He donated funds for garden tools and other supplies and helped create the Egret Club at Kimball. Its members dedicated themselves to watching out for the creek and picking up trash. In addition, he agreed to have expensive landscaping next to his building removed because it was not indigenous to the creek ecosystem.

The momentum was building. The County provided $5,000 for cleanup through the good offices of Supervisor Greg Cox. The Coastal Conservancy pitched in with $50,000 for a saltmarsh enhancement plan. Godshalk applied for a grant from Power Bar, Inc., and received $4,000 toward building a small nursery for propagating riparian plants. AmeriCorps members arrived to pitch in. “They took out nonnative plants,” said Margaret, “relocated some pickleweed and saltgrass, harvested some seed to see if it would grow, put in upland plants, and built an observation platform so that kids could take bird counts and watch the change of seasons and the migrations from the same place.”

In november 1997, a binational community art project, inSITE, was taking place, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts. David Avalos, Margaret’s brother and an established artist, opted to create a mural with Kimball School fifth graders. The mural now frames the proposed entrance to the future park.

State Assemblywoman Denise Ducheny, whose office sits only a few blocks from the creek, heard about the park project during a City Council meeting and toured the site with some city officials. She came to the mural’s unveiling. As chair of the Assembly Budget Committee, she saw to it that $700,000 in state funds was allotted to the the Coastal Conservancy for Paradise Creek Educational Park.

“We’re always looking at projects that have multiple benefits, and this was a classic example,” said Ducheny. “First, you’re beautifying a redeveloping part of the city. Second, you’re improving the quality and flow of water going into Sweetwater Marsh, an important resource and wildlife refuge. Third, you have the opportunity to do it right next door to a school, where you can involve children in learning how to care for the creek and use it for a variety of lessons. And if the vision develops as planned, you create a passive recreation area right in the heart of an intense commercial-industrial area.”

And so it was that, in 1999, enough funding had been secured to create an educational park focused on a tidal creek habitat, with walkways, a shade structure for picnics, and educational observation stations. A nonprofit organization has been formed, Paradise Creek Educational Park, Inc., to carry out educational programs.

The San Diego Port District, which has signed on as park partner for two years, is providing books, binoculars, hand-held microscopes for field kits, and a digital video camera that will be used to create a bilingual tape for children.

Now the Godshalks envision well-informed children leading tours of parents and friends, in English and Spanish. They envision high school students mentoring elementary school children and being mentored themselves by university students. Their own son, nicknamed Tiger, is now four and already “a creek kid,” his father said.

Back in 1994, the Godshalks could never have imagined all this would grow out of a simple walk down to a neglected, trash-strewn creekside.

And what of the teacher who led the excursion that sparked all this? What does she hope the children will gain from it?

“To begin to appreciate the beauty in their own community,” she said; “to take pride, become protective. You always hear how National City is one of the poorest cities in the state and the nation. The goal is for them to feel the richness around them. And if one of them says, ‘I want to be a marine biologist, or to do what Ms. Godshalk did,’ that would be icing on the cake. But the hope is that all of them know:

‘I can make a difference.’”

Gary Taylor, a freelance writer, lives in Encinitas.

Paradise Creek loking north from West 22nd Street; a boardwalk is planned along the left bank.