Santa Ana Lawn Bowling Club

In 1935 & 1936 the 1st lawn bowling green in Santiago Park was constructed
with funding from the Work Projects Administration (WPA) program* under
the leadership of the City of Santa Ana Park Manager Dale Griggs.

In the summer of 1938 the first lawn bowl was rolled.
Popularity of the sport created a need for the second “green” which was constructed in 1952.

In 1954 a structure acquired from the Army Air Base in Costa Mesa and served as a clubhouse for 34 years. The current facility was dedicated on Jan 26, 1991. The first floor use is for Lawn Bowling activities.
The top floor is available for rental through the City of Santa Ana.

 * The WPA provided jobs and income to the unemployed during the Great Depression in the United States.
Other funded projects including the iconic Dock Street Theater in Charleston,
the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, and the Timberline Lodge on Oregon’s Mt. Hood.

The Santa Ana Lawn Bowling Club in Santiago Park has been delighting lawn bowlers for almost 85 years since it opened in 1938.

President Roosevelt created the Works Progress Administration(WPA) an ambitious employment infrastructure program in 1935, during the bleakest years of the Great Depression. Over it's eight years of existence, the WPA put roughly 8.5 million Americans to work. Some of the best known local projects include the Fountain at the Hollywood Bowl, the Astronomer's Monument at Griffith Observatory, and in sculptures + murals at the Old Globe theater and Starlight Bowl in San Diego's Balboa Park.

At its height in late 1938, more than 3.3 million Americans worked for the WPA. That's the same year that the WPA reconstructed the Santiago Creek bed and built the Lawn Bowling Center under Santa Ana Park manager Dale Griggs. That summer the first lawn bowl was rolled. Popularity of the sport created a need for the second 'green', which was constructed in 1952. In 1954 a structure was acquired from the Army airbase in Costa Mesa that served as the Clubhouse for 34 years. The current facility was dedicated on January 26, 1991.

Santa Ana City Hall: The city hall, a notable example of Art Deco architecture, was built in 1935 with WPA funding.

Santa Ana Council honors Santa Ana Lawn Bowling Club