Wish list for city council includes bike course, dog run

By Rebecca Ray

Could Saratogans be seeing a vineyard at El Quito Park in the near future?

Not likely. But a vineyard is one of 10 items on the Saratoga Parks and Recreation Commission's "wish list" of improvements to parks that Saratogans would like to see a few years down the road. The commission will present the wish list to the city council at the March 27 joint meeting between the commission and council.

The other items on the wish list include:

* A BMX bike course, which is like a skateboard park for bikes, and has ramps for doing stunts;

* A climbing wall;

* Community gardens;

* A dog run, which is an enclosed area that dogs can run around in without having to wear leashes;

* A par course/walking path;

* funds for the new gym at Prospect High School

* Funds for the new Performing Arts and Lecture Center at Saratoga High School;

* A skateboard park;

* Expansion of and improvements to the attic of the Warren Hutton House, the city's teen center, which residents say is too crowded.

The commission created the list based on comments from Saratoga residents, commissioners and council members, said Commission Chairman Norbert Fronczak. The list is still subject to modification, Fronczak said, and no item has been placed above any other. The commission will prioritize the items and determine how much money can be spent on the "wish list" later on.

The commissioners decided they needed a new list in February, when they had almost attained all the goals for the parks projects prioritized in October 1999.

Large-scale capital improvements that the commission considers important, but that are beyond the scope of commission funding and are not on the wish list, include a new community/senior center, land acquisition and a new indoor recreation facility for the city.

At the March 27 meeting, commissioners will also ask the council to give them approval on their plans to improve the turf at El Quito Park. Commissioners plan to allow the California Youth Soccer Association, which needs more practice fields, practice on the new turf at El Quito Park. CYSA players currently practice in Cupertino, and the practice fields at Congress Springs Park in Saratoga are too small, Fronczak said.

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