Petaluma unveils vision for riverfront park transformation

“Dream it. Build it. Love it.”

That short, staccato phrase – appearing on a variety of free stickers along with its Spanish translation: “Sueñalo. Constrúyelo. Amalo!” – was on lavish display throughout downtown Petaluma’s Hall of the Above on Saturday afternoon.

For two hours, hundreds of curious locals visited the historic one-time bank building for an event the Petaluma River Park Foundation dubbed the Dreamscapes Concert and Plan Reveal.

That “concept plan,” developed after months of active community engagement last year — the “dream it” part of the process — is the next major step in transforming two pieces of once-neglected riverside property into a vibrant shared space designed with people, art and nature in mind.

The concepts presented on Saturday involved the design contributions of CMG Landscape Architecture, environmental specialists Pruniske Chatham, Inc., and the leadership team of the foundation.