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Residents: new park should not have budget constraints
Project cost will be about $5.2 million
By Kate Carter
In Willow Glen's Gardner neighborhood, the place where the community comes together isn't a coffee shop or a bar but, appropriately enough, the community center and park.
That's why Gardner residents want to make sure that much needed improvements to the Gardner Community Center and Biebrach Park on W. Virginia Avenue will meet the needs and wants of the community well into the future.
In their first meeting with the community on April 4, city officials and architectural consultants said that the project budget is about $5.2 million. That should cover the basic costs of a new, approximately 12,000-square-foot center, upgraded bathrooms and a variety of other improvements, they said.
Residents, however, made it clear that they don't want to be constrained by the budget, when thinking about what would best benefit their community. They acknowledged the limitations of the budget, city guidelines and a project timeline that requires a completed master plan by December. But they also made suggestions for ways to prepare for future improvements, as well as soliciting funding from additional sources.
"We are very pleased with the enthusiasm of this community," architect consultant Reed Grandy said at the meeting. "There's a great interest in what's going on. We've not seen this in many other projects."
San Jose State University graduate student Peter Weschler explained, "The community center is the heart of the community, a place where all the paths meet."
Gardner had been the subject of a neighborhood survey made by SJSU graduate students, under the direction of professor Dayana Salazar, last year. That information, coupled with analyses by the architectural consultants, Sugimura and Associates, and input from the community, will direct a proposal for the site's master plan, due this December.
About 40 people gathered in the Gardner Academy's multipurpose room to hear what the architects and SJSU students proposed before offering opinions of their own.
The largest question was whether to locate the new center at its current site west of the park, or to move it nearer to the pool on the east side. Weschler and architect Leo Tirado each pre- sented variations of both options, and discussed the advantages and disadvantages of both.
Leaving the center at its current site, they said, would leave the east side less staffed and with less activity, posing a possible safety problem. Also, it might be more convenient to keep all the activity space together, they said.
However, moving the center could change the close relationship it now has with the elementary school across the street. It would also take away space from the large open field that is now used for soccer practice and games.
At the end of the meeting, community members voted in favor of leaving the center where it is, across the street from the elementary school, said Gary Okazaki, community services supervisor for the parks, recreation and neighborhood services department.
Decisions about how to organize the building and what else to put on the site remain to be made. Questions were raised about how to fit a 12,000-square-foot, single-story building anywhere on the site, what features it should include and how to best use the park's the open space.
Some suggested making the structure strong enough to support a second level in the future when there may be more funding, or building an indoor gym somewhere on the site.
Other features that could be included in the center's master plan are a welcoming area with a water fountain, child care and increased office facilities and educational and reading rooms. Consultants said there was the possibility of increased staffing at the center, as well as an occasional police presence.
The park could be enhanced with outdoor lighting for nighttime soccer, trails, a skatepark and adapting the pool for year-round use, they said.
Some neighbors were opposed to outdoor lighting because of the impact it would have on nearby homes, as well as the criminal activity they said it could attract.
Safety in the neighborhoods around the center was an important issue for many nearby residents. Some recommended that a possible parking lot be located in the more secure front of the center. along Virginia Avenue. Another idea proposed was some type of connection between the center and a cul-de-sac behind it, off Jerome Street, so it would be less appealing for loiterers.
Gardner, along with the Atlanta and Gregory Plaza neighborhoods, is part of the Strong Neighborhoods Initiative area located in northern Willow Glen. The initiative plans to improve 20 of the city's older and less affluent residential areas with city and redevelopment agency money.
Gardner's new community center, however, is one of the parks projects made possible through the passage of Measure P last November. Voters approved more than $228 million for a variety of parks projects throughout the city, including the Gardner Center.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
