Digital News Report – Santa Cruz Mission is a historic park, which is maintained by California State Parks. Because of new legislation approved in March to help balance the California budget, Santa Cruz Mission was named as one of 70 parks throughout the state that will be closed by the California State Parks.
The California State Park closures were not given specific dates that the parks will close as they are working out partnership agreements with cities, counties, and non-profit groups to help keep them open. There are already 32 operating agreements with partnerships to help keep the parks open.
State park officials determined closure based on a number of factors. Some included how many visitors attended the park, how easy it was to close, and if they were able to keep visitors from accessing the park.
California will still have 208 parks that will remain open to the public which includes many historic sites, and beach parks. For a complete list of the 70 California State Park closures visit http://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/712/files/2011ParkClosures_attachments20110513.pdf
By Victoria Brown