Photograph by R.W. Bradford
Tessa Myers, 3, plays with her doll at Kevin Moran Park.
By Julie Mehta
After a lengthy debate and community input process, the City Council has approved some recommendations by the Community Recreation and Park Task Force on how to spend more than $2 million available in the city's park development fund.
At its July 17 meeting, the council agreed to move forward with creating a master plan for a community center hub, renovating and creating sports fields, and negotiating with schools to establish joint-use playing fields. The council scrapped a recommendation to build a new field at Kevin Moran Park after hearing numerous objections.
The road to this meeting began at a Town Hall meeting one year ago, when the City Council requested a task force be created to address how to spend new park funds that came in because of recently approved developments. The group, which included a council liaison, parks and recreation commissioners and community members, held 23 meetings, beginning in April, to facilitate a June 8 public workshop on the issue of how to spend the money. That Saturday morning workshop drew almost 70 people who broke into focus groups and used play money to indicate what they felt the priorities should be.
The report on their conclusions was presented to the council at the well-attended July 17 meeting, at which nearly 20 people spoke. Many opposed adding a soccer field to Kevin Moran Park as suggested in the task force report, but supported other proposed improvements to the park, such as adding playground equipment for older children, trees, picnic benches and a landscaped off-street parking area.
Neighbors of the park said the addition of a field would increase traffic and noise and decrease the safety of the area. Some also objected to the proposed one to two new multi-use fields at the undeveloped Azule Park, but the council still approved this recommendation. The estimated cost for improving these parks and building the new fields at Azule is more than $500,000.
Representatives of the Cupertino Union and Saratoga Union school districts indicated their enthusiasm for entering into partnerships for renovating school-site joint-use fields. A total of $700,000 is the projected cost for field improvements at Argonaut, Foothill, Saratoga and Marshall Lane schools. A new field is also being considered for Blue Hills School.
Several speakers also suggested that McAuliffe School and the orchard at the corner of Saratoga Avenue and Fruitvale Avenue be considered as new field sites.
The council decided to scrap the idea of trying to renovate the community center as suggested in the report, saying what was truly needed was a new building. But it approved the suggestion that $100,000 be spent to hire an architect/consultant to create a master plan for a community center hub, which could include an indoor sports center, joint development of the gym with Redwood School, a joint-use facility for seniors and a teen-only facility. The consultant is also to come up with a way to acquire funding for this plan, which will likely involve a bond issue.
Other suggestions adopted by the council included installing new playground equipment at Gardiner Park and replacing the hand rails at Hakone Gardens if they are deemed unsafe. The council decided to also add new restrooms to Hakone Gardens.
The remaining money, an estimated $500,000 or more, is to be placed in a reserve fund that will be used to create a long-term plan for developing and funding parks, recreation areas, trails and open space.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, July 24, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved