The former Marina Equestrian Center at Fifth Avenue and Ninth Street has had no operator since December 18, 2025, when the City of Marina ended its concession agreement. On October 13, the city issued a new Request for Proposals for the site. This time the city is asking for educational, cultural and event programming alongside the horses. Proposals are due November 30. One document from 1998 decides what can be built there and why the last two operators ended the way they did.
The National Park Service gave this land to the city on a condition. It has to stay a public park, for public recreation, permanently. That rule shaped the volunteer era, the concession era and the empty months since. It also shapes every idea now headed to City Hall.
A Cavalry Hospital Before It Was a Horse Center
The buildings are older than the city's horse program. In a 2009 history, the Monterey Herald used 1941 Army blueprints and a local historian's research to describe the complex as a veterinary hospital for sick and injured cavalry horses at Fort Ord. It had ward stables, surgery space and a clinic.
Today the city describes the concession site as about 14 acres of a 35-acre city-owned parcel. It has five historic former Fort Ord veterinary hospital buildings totaling more than 16,000 square feet, plus arenas, stalls, turnouts and open space. Barns judged unsuitable for rehabilitation have been removed. The remaining historic structures need rehabilitation or adaptive reuse before they can serve a new program. Any new operator starts with those buildings.
The Condition Written Into the 1998 Transfer
According to the city's current RFP, the deed was signed April 13, 1998, and recorded April 24, 1998. It limits the property to public park and public recreation use in perpetuity. Any concession agreement also needs the National Park Service's written approval in advance.
In practice, the city can't simply lease the barns to whoever will pay. The city's draft concession agreement recounts that a letter from the National Park Service dated January 12, 2017, required an equitable public-park plan for horse boarding. It also stated that leases, easements and other property rights are not allowed on the site. The city adopted a Program of Utilization for the property on March 21, 2017.
Horse boarding was the hard part. A paddock rented to one person's horse year-round looks a lot like a private property right. Under the deed, the land is supposed to serve the general public. In 2020, Monterey County NOW reported that boarding there was meant to be temporary, with stays of about four months, but that some horses had stayed much longer. The outlet's 2021 report on the operator selection said year-round private boarding did not comply with the deed. It quoted then-City Manager Layne Long: "The issue is to get into compliance so we don't lose this amazing park."
| Date | What changed at the site |
|---|---|
| 1941 | Army blueprints show a veterinary complex for cavalry horses |
| April 1998 | Deed executed and recorded, limiting use to a public park and public recreation |
| Jan. 12, 2017 | National Park Service letter rules out leases and asks for an equitable public-park plan for boarding |
| 2020 | City seeks a new concessionaire after more than 25 years of volunteer operation |
| Sept. 2021 | City Council selects Chaparral Country Corporation |
| Dec. 30, 2022 | Concession agreement with Chaparral takes effect |
| Sept. 23 and Nov. 26, 2025 | City issues cure notices |
| Dec. 18, 2025 | City terminates the agreement |
| March 5, 2026 | Council directs staff to broaden the next solicitation |
| Sept. 15, 2026 | Council adopts Resolution 2026-132 authorizing a new RFP |
| Oct. 13, 2026 | New RFP issued |
Two Operators, the Same Test
For more than 25 years, the Marina Equestrian Association ran the center as a volunteer nonprofit. By 2020 the group had spent about 15 years on a month-to-month arrangement with the city. It paid $1,800 a month, and its members contributed six hours of maintenance labor each quarter. For 15 years, the site ran on an informal monthly arrangement under a deed that forbids leases.
The city's 2020 RFP looked for a concessionaire that would run the property as a public park. In September 2021, the council chose Chaparral Country Corporation, according to Monterey County NOW's report on the selection. The agreement was signed December 30, 2022. In 2025, the city cited problems with maintenance, legal compliance, insurance coverage, an unauthorized assignment, and revenue reports and payments. It issued cure notices in September and November, and the agreement terminated on December 18, 2025. In Monterey County NOW's coverage of the termination, the operator said it had been working to uphold the agreement. It also said city review processes held up some repairs to barns and plumbing.
Both operators worked under the same requirement. The site has to function as a public park first, and that's harder to run than a private stable.
What the October 13 Request Opens Up
This time the city widened the request beyond horse operations. It invited proposals for "public-serving activities" that draw on the site's natural setting and its connection to the Fort Ord National Monument. According to the city, possible uses include community events, festivals, educational programs and camps, youth and school programming, cultural workshops, demonstrations and performances. Proposals can combine several of these.
When the council directed staff to issue the request, Monterey County NOW reported that a staff report suggested amenities such as a mountain bike park, a zipline and a velodrome. The outlet quoted Assistant City Manager Courtney Lindberg:
"This is not a rushed process. This is going to be very intentional. I would like to encourage people to think outside the box."
The same report quoted Councilmember Kathy Biala saying the property "has to be able to at least break even." Councilmember Brian McCarthy said "it's time to start thinking about future uses here."
Horses still hold a central place in the document itself. The RFP says the five main buildings "must include equestrian-focused activities as the primary uses," with educational, cultural and entertainment additions encouraged. It also asks for a theme that honors the buildings' military history. At the same time, it calls equestrian use of the 2838 California Ave. building, the arenas and the stalls optional. The RFP prohibits long-term or permanent private horse boarding, and any private boarding that's allowed has to come second to public services and public access. For local riders, this matters more now than it did a few years ago. Monterey County NOW notes that equestrians point to shrinking options in the county, especially since the Pebble Beach Equestrian Center closed in 2024.
The RFP's most concrete promise is about hours. The future park operation has to be open to the public seven days a week, from 8 a.m. until one hour after sunset. That's close to the schedule at the Fort Ord National Monument next door. The Bureau of Land Management lists more than 86 miles of trails there for hiking, biking and horseback riding, open dawn to dusk. The city's RFP describes the former equestrian center as a gateway to those trails and calls for developing it as a trailhead. Trail planners have talked about a link for years. A 2015 FORTAG proposal marked a general area for a future connection between the Fort Ord Rec Trail and the equestrian center.
City Manager Matt Mogensen said in the city's announcement: "We want to hear from creative operators who can see the potential of this property and develop programs and experiences that welcome the public, serve a broad range of community needs and make the most of its open space."
The Calendar From Here
The process has firm dates through the end of November. After that, it's up to the council.
- November 6, 5 p.m. Deadline for written questions about the RFP.
- November 30 Proposal deadline. Full submission rules are posted on the city's Bids and Proposals page.
- By the end of the year The council could be reviewing proposals, according to Monterey County NOW. If no proposals arrive, or none suit the council, Lindberg said that would be the time for the city to reassess.
Proposals go by email to Public Works Director Ismael Hernandez and Recreation & Cultural Services Director Elizabeth Crisante. A new agreement still needs the National Park Service's written approval under the deed, so the council vote won't be the last step.
Hilltop Park, Also on Ninth Street, Needs a Name
The same Recreation & Cultural Services Department is collecting resident ideas for three more parks on former Fort Ord land through December 31:
- City Park at the Dunes, on 2nd Avenue between 5th and 8th streets
- City Park at Sea Haven, at Marina Heights Drive and Denali Road
- Hilltop Park, at 9th Street and Sandy Gulch Drive
Only Marina residents can submit, and the city asks for one application per park. Names should draw on Marina's history, geography, ecology or native plants. They can't honor specific people, repeat existing regional park or street names, or carry commercial or political ties. City staff will screen the entries, the Recreation Commission will narrow the list, and the City Council will make the final choice. Applications are available online or at the Recreation & Cultural Services office at 211 Hillcrest Ave. If you want to name a park after the cavalry hospital's history, Hilltop Park shares 9th Street with the old barns.
If you're following what happens to the old barns, or wondering how a new public use at Fifth and Ninth could affect the streets around it, I'm glad to talk it through with you. Dave Lucas keeps an eye on Marina's council agenda the way neighbors do. Let's Connect.
