The building in Comba Park is home to BUGS (Boise Urban Garden School). BUGS provides garden education, cooking classes and community garden management in partnership with the City of Boise.
Amenities include a community garden, playground, pollinator garden and splash pad.
Hours of Operation
Park is open from sunrise to sunset.
Parking
There is on site parking available.
Features & Amenities
Community Garden
Garden operations will be managed in a collaboration between the Comba Garden Tenants Association and the Boise Urban Garden School, which is part of Boise Parks and Recreation. For information, please contact the Comba Garden Tenants Association.
Playground
Playground is for ages 2-12.
Playground surface is artificial turf which is composed of polyethylene.
Pollinator Garden
Pollinator gardens create an oasis of nature in our parks. Pollinators are animals—bees, butterflies, beetles, hummingbirds, etc.—that transfer pollen from flower to flower, enabling plants to make seeds. Without pollinators many of the foods humans and wildlife depend on, including nuts, fruits and berries would not be available. Pollinator gardens provide critical habitat for these essential creatures and help maintain clean water and air, stabilize the soil, make the ecosystem more resilient and support other native wildlife.
Splash Pad
Splash pad is open daily from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Memorial Day to Labor Day.
Site includes three ground sprays, a dumping bucket and a 36-inch orb.
Smoking Prohibition
Smoking and vaping are prohibited in all City of Boise parks, including within 20 feet of the Boise River Greenbelt, except in designated areas within Ann Morrison and Julia Davis Parks and at city-owned golf courses.
Towing
Unauthorized vehicles will be towed at owner's risk and expense. You can contact Boise Valley Towing by calling (208) 389-9707.
Master Plan
The Master Plan is a concept drawing illustrating recreation facilities and landscape features planned for a park site. It does not necessarily represent what amenities are currently in a park.
About Dr. Trudy Comba
Dr. Trudy Comba is a prominent educator, entrepreneur and philanthropist. A retired, long-time Idaho resident who spent 42 years in education, Dr. Comba is passionate about helping children achieve their dreams.
Achieving her own dream wasn’t easy. Dr. Comba left school to work in tobacco and strawberry fields to help support her family. This wasn’t a disappointment: Dr. Comba will readily admit school felt more like a prison sentence. As a teen, Dr. Comba entered a convent where she attended two years of college, became a school teacher, and learned that education could be actually be fun.
Dr. Comba earned a bachelor's degree at Duquesne University, a master’s degree from the University of Arizona and a Ph.D in special education at the University of Oregon. Dr. Comba spent 10 years teaching at Boise State University, where she established the early childhood education program and wrote the Kindergarten curriculum guide for the state of Idaho.
Together with her husband Dr. John Comba, a former State Director of Special Education, and their three girls -- Ann Margaret, Kathryn and Michelle -- the family built a 10,000-square-foot school in West Boise. A Small World Center for Creativity opened its doors in 1980.
Dr. Trudy --- as she was known to scores of Boise children -- had a vision for a fun, holistic educational experience for young children that incorporated child development, fine arts, foreign languages, karate, and computers. A Small World featured jogging paths, teepees for camp outs, farm animals and a barn with a kiln, library, wood working center and a complete darkroom. There was also a greenhouse and potting shed for flower and vegetables.
At A Small World, school was fun.
Dr. Comba opened four more preschools throughout the city, running the state’s largest child care centers. Dr. Comba won numerous awards for her work and was widely recognized nationally as an innovator in early childhood education.
In 2000, the Comba family donated the West Boise site for the future Comba Park.