Santa Clara is holding its two biggest family events of the season at Central Park as usual. The difference this year is how you get in. The Children's SpooktaClara Halloween Party on Oct. 24 and the Holiday Tree Lighting on Dec. 4 will happen in a park where the Pavilion side has been fenced off for months. A new main entrance is under construction at Kiely Boulevard and Kaiser Drive, and the swim center next door is a concrete job site. This fall, getting to the party mostly means using the lots, curbs and paths that usually handle overflow.
The schedule on the event pages is older than the construction update
Both event pages were last updated on May 29, 2026. Both list the Pavilion lot as free event parking.
The city's Central Park Entrance, Accessibility & Parking Improvements project page was updated more recently, on Sept. 3, 2026. It says the Pavilion parking lot is closed. It also says Phase 1, the work behind that closure, was "nearing completion" and expected to wrap up by the end of September. As of Oct. 11, there was no public notice that Phase 1 is finished or that the lot has reopened. Until the city posts one, the Pavilion lot is best treated as unconfirmed.
The work is more than a repaving. The project covers a new entrance, upgrades to the existing traffic signals, ADA-compliant concrete pathways and electric vehicle charging stations. Phase 2 has already started. It covers the new entrance and the signal at Kiely Boulevard and Kaiser Drive, and it is scheduled to finish in summer 2027. That means the main entrance on Kiely will stay under construction through both holiday events and well into next year.
What is open inside the fence line
As of the city's Sept. 3 update, this is how the park's main areas stood:
| Area | Status as of the Sept. 3, 2026 project update |
|---|---|
| Magical Bridge Playground | Open |
| Kids' playground | Closed |
| Basketball courts | Open through Phase 2 |
| Pavilion parking lot | Closed, pending reopening |
| Pavilion picnic area and restrooms | Closed |
| Arbor picnic area and restrooms | Open but limited, reached from the Kiely Boulevard side |
| Pavilion and Arbor reservations | Not available |
| Restrooms near the Lawn Bowl facility | Open |
| Creek Trail pedestrian access | Open through Phase 2 |
| CRC parking lot | Listed as visitor parking during Phase 2 |
Crews work Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., except on city holidays. Weekend and evening visits avoid active construction. Both big events fall outside those hours: SpooktaClara is a Saturday afternoon and the Tree Lighting is a Friday evening after 5:30.
The rest of Central Park is running normally. The city lists the 30,000-square-foot Community Recreation Center, the Lawn Bowling Green, the Tennis Center, Central Park Library and the Fatjo Sports Fields, east of the creek, as park amenities. October classes at the CRC include Zumba, Body Sculpting, Bolly X and Power Hour. The calendar warns that schedules can change. You can register for the 2026 Fall Activity Guide online or in person at the CRC, 969 Kiely Blvd.
Families who usually use the kids' playground have another closure to account for. At Henry Schmidt Park, 555 Los Padres Blvd., playground rehabilitation began Feb. 2, 2026, and is expected to take about 14 months. The park building, field and basketball court there remain open. Of the city's playgrounds discussed here, Magical Bridge is the one that is fully open this fall.
How each event works around the closures
Children's SpooktaClara Halloween Party
SpooktaClara runs Saturday, Oct. 24, from noon to 4 p.m. It takes place on the Meadow Area near Bob Fatjo Field, not on the Pavilion side. The city lists a trick-or-treat row, a pumpkin walk, carnival games, obstacle courses and crafts. Because the event sits on the meadow, the construction zone is mostly out of the way. The hard part is parking.
Practical options, based on what the city has published:
- CRC lot. The SpooktaClara page lists it as free parking, and the project page names it as the visitor lot during Phase 2.
- Patricia Drive. It is also listed as free parking for the party.
- Pavilion lot. It is listed on the event page but closed in the newer project update. Assume it is unavailable unless the city says otherwise.
- On foot or by bike via the Creek Trail. Pedestrian access from the trail stays open during construction.
The Central Park Library has its own Halloween event a week earlier, a costume swap on Oct. 17. Families who want costumes for the party can pick them up there first.
Holiday Tree Lighting
The Holiday Tree Lighting is Friday, Dec. 4, from 5:30 to 8 p.m., with Santa, food, music, local performances and children's activities. Its parking rules are stricter than the Halloween party's. Free parking is listed at the Pavilion lot and on Patricia Drive. The CRC lot is permit-only, with no drop-offs. ADA parking is available at all three locations, and rideshare drop-off is at the Central Park Library.
Put those rules next to the project status. If the Pavilion lot hasn't reopened by early December, the CRC lot is limited to permits, and Patricia Drive becomes the main public parking for the night. The library curb at 2635 Homestead Road, a branch the city lists as open seven days a week, becomes the main drop-off point. Arriving from the Homestead side, by rideshare or on foot, keeps you away from the Kiely and Kaiser construction.
Patricia Drive also runs past the swim center rebuild
Patricia Drive appears on both event pages. It is also the address of the George F. Haines International Swim Center, 2625 Patricia Drive, which the city lists as closed for major renovations. If you park there for the Tree Lighting, you will walk past one of the largest public construction projects in the city.
The facility closed in January 2024 because of its condition. On Dec. 9, 2025, the City Council awarded a $24,680,981 construction contract to International Swim Center LLC, a joint venture of Adams Pool Solutions and Mark Scott Construction. The groundbreaking was May 12, 2026.
Phase I rehabilitates three pools: one for diving and artistic swimming, one for competition and one for training. It adds a new dive tower, a mechanical building, outdoor showers and underground utilities, and it demolishes the old administrative building. In the city's latest update, the dive well forms were in place, shotcrete was going into the racing and training pools, and the mechanical building foundation was underway. Phase I remains on track for mid-to-late 2027.
The next phase is also underway. On Aug. 18, 2026, the City Council approved a design agreement with Group 4 Architecture, Research and Planning for Phase II, capped at $3,106,127. Phase II covers a new 10,000- to 12,000-square-foot administrative building. It also includes a review of whether to rehabilitate or replace the bleachers, canopy structures and buildings next to the spectator seating. Design was expected to begin this fall, with construction documents due by spring 2028. City staff are also meeting regularly with aquatic user groups to plan how a shared-use facility would operate.
The new Kiely Boulevard entrance is due in summer 2027, and the swim center's first phase in mid-to-late 2027. The block around Kiely and Patricia is being rebuilt in stages over about a year. Today's workarounds, the CRC lot, Patricia Drive, the library curb and the Creek Trail, are the access points residents will be using until then.
Other dates before the Tree Lighting
A few more dates fall between now and Dec. 4. On Oct. 29, from 6 to 7:30 p.m., the city will hold an open house on the draft Santa Clara Station Area Specific Plan at Santa Clara University's Benson Memorial Center, 820 Alviso St. In the meantime, the project page at 909 Kiely Blvd. is where the city will post the Phase 1 closeout and any Pavilion lot reopening. The Santa Clara Certified Farmers Market keeps its year-round Saturday schedule, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 950 Jackson St., so it can fit into the same Saturday as the Oct. 24 party.
If you own a home near Kiely Boulevard or Patricia Drive, a new park entrance and a reopened swim center due within the next year affect how buyers will see your street, and timing matters. Rob Godar and the team can walk you through what these projects could mean for your home's value and how to time a sale around them. Get a free home valuation whenever you'd like to start that conversation.
