I’ve been reading with dismay about the imminent closure of more than 200 state parks and beaches in California because of our budget crisis. Below is a picture of Cabrillo State Beach, which is on the list.
The move may result in savings as much as $70 million, according to an LA Times blog post. I keep wondering where all that federal stimulus money went. Anyway, California is rich in beautiful parks and beaches, and to shut them down seems like a sinful waste. Here’s an idea — why don’t we keep them open and maybe work a little harder to promote them to the people and, oh, how about marketing them as wedding venues?
Above, is the Adamson House lawn and the beautiful star-shaped fountain. Adamson House is part of the California State Parks system, but is not on the chopping block. But I know for a fact that Adamson House has a lot of interest as a wedding venue (at least, according to my traffic). Why can’t it be the same for much of the 200+ parks that the governor wants to put on the chopping block?
Photos by Moments Captured In Time, novus_photo, Time Magician, Coast Guard BM, jimheid, and b.roveran
Here is a list of the parks and beaches that could be closed if this proposal goes through. Just doing a cursory scan of that list and doing some casual Flickr searches, I found some amazing pictures of parks that could be marketed as wedding venues. God knows if the parks workers were to put together of a list of the parks and beaches that have been used as wedding venues in the past, that list would be much longer and probably quite impressive.
(And for Godsakes, I can’t believe Hearst Castle is on the chopping block.)
Creating a marketing campaign to advertise state parks and beaches as wedding and reception venues would definitely take time and money, I know. But its what businesspeople call an investment, and I swear I thought the governor was a businessman. The state could advertise on networks like HGTV or Style. They could get booths at the dozens and dozens of bridal shows that happen throughout the year. They could make information about having a wedding at a state park more accessible. There’s so much the state can do besides just shutting these parks down.
I think it would be worth it.