Streit Makes Pitch For A "Central Hub" Instead Of Playfields

By Steve Enders

Saratoga city council members Stan Bogosian and Evan Baker threw a curve ball into the city's playfields talks two weeks ago when at the end of a long council meeting May 11, they made a surprise motion to hold a June 8 meeting with the parks and recreation commission and the playfields development task force.

At the meeting, the groups will look at other options besides the ones now on the table; among the options is a suggestion by Nick Streit to create a "central hub" for recreation in the city somewhere near the intersections of Fruitvale and Saratoga avenues.

Streit has had to remove himself from talks so far, because he lives close to Marshall Lane school.

The city council agreed with Baker and Bogosian, and will now backtrack at the meeting to look at how much the city has actually spent exploring the available options at this point--including renovating the playfields at two controversial sites at Blue Hills and Marshall Lane elementary schools.

The council may also choose to pull the two options off altogether that night. The last time the council nearly took the two schools off the list, it was showered with applause from the two groups from each school neighborhood that have been vehemently opposed to the proposals in their areas.

Because the whole process has taken so long, and with the various options offered months ago by city-hired landscape consultant Jay Beals, the council wants to know how much money this issue has cost the cash-conscious city so far.

Now however, the council's focus may shift to a new proposal entirely, the one brought up by Nick Streit. So far, the Heritage Orchard has been considered off-limits to anyone considering something other than the old fruit trees that still stand there.

The chunk of Saratoga's past is highly valued by many in the city, and an attempt to use it for anything else would likely be met with much criticism, especially from the city's heritage preservation commission.

Many neighbors surrounding Blue Hills and Marshall Lane, however, have often said that the Heritage Orchard property would make a great site for the fields needed by soccer and baseball leagues.

Streit said he's full of ideas to look into, which include refocusing various city monies, especially senior center expansion funds and city playfields funds--which currently sit at nearly $2 million--into the concept of the central hub.

"I'm not proposing we demolish the orchard, I just want to see it made more user-friendly," Streit stressed after the meeting. "This could be a chance to do something really good to build the central hub."

Streit said that at the June 8 meeting, he hopes to be able to pose the question, "Do you support a central hub and are you willing to pay for it?"

"Let's float the bond idea and see what happens," he said. If Saratoga residents are willing to pay for it, then the option might be a viable one. The city itself couldn't nearly afford to pay out all the costs of such a proposal itself.

One idea of Streit's is to see the orchard become a living, interactive park for the city--a place where school children could go to learn about how the orchards worked and what it took to manage one.

And nearby, residents could use the playfields being proposed now, including soccer, baseball and softball fields. Since one of the major issues the opposition is carrying is traffic, many have said that building the fields near the city's main intersection would make sense.

The same general area could hold a new community center and senior center.

He said it doesn't need to be built on the Heritage Orchard's land, but could take up portions of City Hall property or the city's service yard behind City Hall and where the city's community center sits now.

Streit said the community is fractured with its school boundary divisions and needs something to further unite residents.

Streit echoed a sentiment voiced by many residents opposed to the current proposal, saying that the city will be wasting money by simply cutting and watering the grass if it's installed at the new sites. The school districts do that now, and the fields are in disrepair.

If the city can't get the user groups or school districts to totally back the city plan, then the other options should be explored, he said.

Saratoga's Memorial Arch

Donations boost education programs

Family Daze

Saratoga Sampler

Sports Briefs

High school sports

High school baseball

Community college baseball

Baseball school at SCU

Badminton summer camp

Searching for former football all-stars