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Midtown park plans approved by council
Proposal puts open space on both sides of a closed Auzerais
By Kate Carter
San Jose's midtown area should start seeing more green next spring--the grassy, leafy kind, if not the pocket-stuffing kind.
The city council last week approved a plan to turn a one-acre vacant site there into a public park. The park, which will be named O'Connor Park, will be on the north side of Auzerais Avenue between Meridian Avenue and Race Street. City officials are also putting together a plan to add a half-acre site on the south side of Auzerais to the park.
O'Connor Park will be surrounded by a Barry Swenson townhome development that is under construction, as well as a development of condominiums that is proposed to replace the Saddle Rack nightclub.
To connect both sides of the park, that section of Auzerais Avenue will be closed to vehicular traffic--but open for emergency access--and turned into a plaza. A new right-of-way will be built south of the development proposed to replace the Saddle Rack.
The first phase of the new park, north of Auzerais, could be completed as early as this spring, said Carla Ruig, park manager for the department of parks, recreation and neighborhood services. It will include an area of grass, lined with trees, a section for chess tables and benches and a tot lot.
The other portion of the park will be built by the Saddle Rack site developer Kaufmann and Broad, Ruig said. The park land is required by the city, and the park construction could be as well, she said. She said she didn't know when that second phase of the park's construction would be completed.
Rick Crosetti, District 6 Councilman Ken Yeager's aide, said that the master plan for the half-acre site could be approved by the city council in the coming months.
City officials met with nearby residents at three neighborhood meetings last year. Neighbors' concerns led to plans for the park that included more lighting and a tot lot closer to Auzerais Avenue, Ruig said. Neighbors also said they wanted a restroom at the park, but Ruig said the project budget won't cover the more than $100,000 cost of a restroom. A restroom may be included in the master plan for the site across the street, if there is enough space and money, she said.
Neighbors also wanted a water play feature included in the tot lot, Ruig said, but it, too, would not be covered by the approximately $400,000 the city has to pay for the park. The water feature could be added later, if the money becomes available, she said.
Ruig said it is important to provide open spaces in the area with several residential developments in various stages of approval and construction.
"The main reason is when you bring in new people, you need new parkland," she said.
An even larger park is planned for the area west of Cahill Station in downtown San Jose, Ruig said, where two housing developments are proposed.
Residents in the midtown area chose O'Connor as the name for the new park because O'Connor Hospital--then called O'Connor Sanitarium--used to be located on that site, Ruig said.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
