Prop 68 grant history
By Jacquelyn Benoit, Recreation Superintendent.
Prop 68 was announced in late spring/early summer of 2018. Thank you, California senators and congressional representatives, for passing this proposition. In October of 2018 the Department of Recreation Grants Management contacted Livingston Recreation to encourage us to apply for the Prop 68 grant. The Recreation Department Superintendent took note of this opportunity without much more thought other than "I wonder how I would go about this?" A week later the department received a call from PHA Advocates telling us they had received grant funding to help low-income communities write grant proposals for Prop 68. We started to feel like this was a sign.
Things started rolling around in my head: what could the project be, as our needs were really great, and where do we start? Then within the next couple of weeks I got a call from a friend over at LFA and he said, "Hey Jacquie, do you think the city would be interested in buying our buildings?" The building was a 25,000-square-foot warehouse and a 1.25-acre lot across the street.
Well, there it was! A meeting was held with the City Manager at the time and he got the ball rolling. One of the first things we had to do was see if we even qualified for the grant. We used a tool called the Community Fact Finder. It works by placing a marker on the map at the location of the project, and it tells you the median income to qualify. Literally, this building location is the only location within Livingston that qualified for this grant!
A meeting was held with PHA and they started putting a plan together. Surveys were taken with hundreds and hundreds of Livingston participants, and workshops were held with dedicated community members. It was really quite amazing: with 35-plus workshop participants, everyone was on the same page. It was extraordinary.
Once the project was identified, the group made 3 different layout suggestions for the project. Drawings were made of each layout and the public was asked for their input; the Downtown Farmers Market provided a platform for these plan reviews and surveys. With the lead from PHA, Gabriel Salazar (a resident and contract planner), and city leadership, the grant was submitted in 2019. We found out in early 2020 that we did not get the award. We called our grant contact at the state, who had actually come for an on-site visit, and asked why. "Was there something wrong with the project?" She said no, it was a fantastic project; there were just more communities with a greater need than ours. However, she encouraged us to apply for round 4, and we did!
In March of 2021 we submitted our proposal again, and in December we were awarded the $7.390 million for the project. The journey has been a wild ride, and we are so grateful that LFA was so patient with us on the property purchase; they held on to this building for almost 4 years waiting on the grant outcome. Thank you does not even cover our gratitude to them.
On July 21, 2022 a "Passing of the Keys" completion ceremony was held on the site, and the Livingston Farmers Association passed the building keys to the city with several hundred in attendance. At this ceremony the project manager, Dahlin, was announced.
We will try to keep the community updated on this project as we progress; see the project pages and documents below.
RFP information from the City/Project Manager (Dahlin) (opens in a new tab)November 2025 update
An architect for this project has been obtained and has been working on drawings and designs. The funding for this project has faced a few hurdles, but staff continues to explore other funding sources as well as working with the state on creative funding ideas. The city has hired a grant-writing firm to help find additional funding. The infrastructure on the main warehouse has a few challenges, and due to the increased costs, a new design concept was created; the new design is shown in the documents below.
In August 2025, California Consulting submitted an application to the State for the Land and Water Conservation Fund for the creation and completion of the 1.25-acre park on the corner of C and 7th Street. This park is to include a picnic shelter, restrooms, adult exercise equipment, a playground, a walking path, a community garden, and a splash pad, all items on the Prop 68 deliverable list as well. The City should hear back from the State of California by January 2026 on whether we passed the first phase of the application process.
The City is also seeking funding from federal community facilities grants, USDA grants, and Proposition 4.
Supporting Documents
