February 2015, by Britta Gustafson (CC BY-SA)October 2009, by Britta Gustafson (CC BY-SA)

The most popular gateway between Isla Vista and UCSB, through the Eucalyptus Curtain, is the Pardall entrance, since Pardall Road serves as the Main Street of IV. It has an underground tunnel (Pardall Tunnel) for safe walking and biking, and on the IV side it has a tiny informal park with trees, a bench, and fragments of 1970s Counterculture Tiles set into the ground.

Old swing

1970s, from UCSB Special Collections: Isla Vista Archive, box 97There used to be a swing in this area, but it's gone now. That small piece of land belongs to the owner of the apartment building next to it, and the owner seems to have decided they didn't want to maintain the swing - it may have broken and been too expensive to replace. They still have a photo of the old swing on their website though.

The swing pictured was a replacement for a handmade swing that likely dated to the 1970s as well. The tiles, garden, and seating in this small park and other mini-parks around IV were part of efforts in the 1970s to make Isla Vista more beautiful - to turn it into a place that belonged to the residents and visibly reflected their values.

Pardall Gardens

In 2021, IVRPD began a project to revitalize Pardall Gardens, a small park along the gateway. They surveyed the community on what people wanted to see there, including by posting voting boards on the site itself, so that people could give input when they walked by. Construction is scheduled to be complete in 2024.

June 2023, by Britta Gustafson (CC BY-SA)