Willow Glen Resident
News
San Jose is partnering with nonprofit, community to build more playgrounds
By Eli Segall
San Jose may soon have a playground construction boom thanks to the help of an advocacy group in Washington, D.C.
The San Jose Parks Department is working with KaBoom to build new playgrounds throughout the city, said Matt Cano, a parks department division manager. One site is finalized--Welch Park near Eastridge Mall--and at least a dozen other sites across San Jose are candidates for new playgrounds, he said.
KaBoom, which has helped build 1,200 playgrounds across North America, does not directly provide money or land for its projects. Instead, it finds a corporate sponsor to contribute 90 percent of the funds and a "community partner," such as a local government agency or school, to supply the balance of the funds and the land, said Kristen Mehr, director of national advocacy for KaBoom.
Local volunteers then come out en masse for a one-day build to bring the playground to life.
"The main goal of KaBoom is community engagement and community empowerment," Cano said. "It's pretty neat to have 150 people that live near a park building a playground with their bare hands."
Founded in 1996, KaBoom partnered with San Jose in 2003 to build Watson Park off Taylor Street near Highway 101. In late 2004, soil contamination was discovered there, and Watson has been closed ever since. The two groups subsequently lost touch. Neither the parks department nor KaBoom indicated they fell on bad terms.
Longtime San Jose parks advocate Randi Kinman helped rekindle the alliance. She first volunteered at a KaBoom playground build in fall 2005 in Oakland, and since then has traveled to Chicago and New Orleans for additional builds. Kinman, who was particularly impressed with KaBoom's work in post-Katrina New Orleans building playgrounds in decimated neighborhoods, lobbied city officials for renewed collaboration.
In addition to jointly built playgrounds, the parks department recently announced it would enter KaBoom's first annual Playful City USA campaign. Cities nationwide have until Sept. 15 to apply for the title of Most Playful City in America, an honor that would bring San Jose national recognition and facilitate future parks grants from public and private donors, Cano said. The application also requires San Jose to proclaim an Annual Play Day, which the city plans to do later this year, Cano said.
KaBoom asked San Jose and nine other big cities across America to vie for the title, according to Mehr. It hopes the race will inspire other cities to apply and, by doing so, heighten their commitment to "an agenda of play," she said.
