April 7, 2006

Breaking new ground

Residents and dignitaries celebrate Fowler Creek Park groundbreaking

By Diego Abeloos
Editor

A crowd of local residents and dignitaries celebrated an event nearly two decades in the making with the official groundbreaking ceremony for Fowler Creek Park on April 1.

District 8 Council member Dave Cortese speaks at the official groundbreaking ceremony for Fowler Creek Park on April 1. Cortese said the park is “an excellent example of a partnership between the city and its own residents.”

Among those on hand for the event was District 8 council member Dave Cortese, who took the opportunity to praise those involved in the project for making the groundbreaking ceremony, as well as the park itself, a reality.

“I’m very happy for the residents in this area. They’ve been waiting for this a long time,” said Cortese, who initially became involved in the planning process for the park in 2001.

“There were legal ramifications and challenges in trying to get the land assembled for this park when I took office five years ago. We made it a huge priority to try and break through some of those challenges and get things rolling. It’s a big park and it took a lengthy master plan process. I’m probably even more proud of the community empowerment and the fact that a lot of people were involved.”

The concept of the park has been in the works since 1988 as part of the master plan for the Evergreen Specific plan. The original plans for the park, calling for a square-shaped park of more than 14 acres, were eventually revisited and revised in May 2002 to better fit the needs of the growing Evergreen community to its current status, a triangular-like shaped park of approximately 12 acres near Michelangelo Drive and Strada Circle.

“Much of the Evergreen Specific Plan is built in a way to encourage pedestrian and bicycle transportation, and to discourage cut-through traffic,” Cortese said, referring to some of the elements considered in the planning process. “If anyone has ever tried to cut through this neighborhood …they probably gave up after the first time, which is a good thing. But in order to maintain those kinds of features, it was important to acquire the park land in such a way that it wouldn’t create some kind of a traffic grid pattern right in the middle of these neighborhoods.”

After numerous meetings between Cortese’s office, the city of San Jose’s Department of Park, Recreation and Neighborhood Services, as well as concerned community members, the updated master plan was approved by the San Jose City Council on Oct. 21, 2003.

On Feb. 14 of this year, the Phase I development project for the park was awarded to Granite Rock Company DBA Pavex Construction Division, which came in with a low bid of $3,394,750.

Phase I of the project, slated to be completed in July of 2007, will feature a playground and tot lot, three lighted tennis courts, a parking area, group and family picnic areas, a garden with a fountain, a hilltop area overlooking the Fowler Creek neighborhood, restrooms, a bocce ball court and a hillside slide, among other amenities.

Plans for Phase II, for which a construction timetable has yet to be determined, call for the addition of an 8,000 square foot community center, as well as a swimming pool.

“I’m really excited about it,” said Brian Hartsell, PRNS Parks Manager. “In fact, if I don’t miss my guess, this will be the largest park in District 8, other than Montgomery Hill.”

Groundbreaking attendees also included members of the non-profit community service organization Friends of Fowler Creek Park, founded by Fowler Creek area residents in July of 2002. Both Cortese and Hartsell praised the group for working closely with PRNS in the planning and development of the park.

“Certainly, our community process has kind of started and stopped, and started and stopped a second time,” Hartsell said. “In those years, we’ve met with the community groups dozens of times. The Friends of Fowler Creek Park, and others who are very well connected via the Internet and that sort of technology have added a whole other layer of the community process to the planning. It’s all gelling today.”

Larry Braddock, Vice President of Operations for the group, said the groundbreaking ceremony for Phase I was the result of a collaborative effort between residents and the city, and that the park, with its configuration and amenities, best represents the needs and desires of all parties involved in the process.

“After all the hard work we’ve done, meeting with community leaders and the community as a whole, everybody finally came together and came to a consensus as to what should be in the park,” said Braddock, who thanked Cortese and Hartsell in his speech. “We’re just ecstatic. It’s finally come to fruition.”

“I think it really is an excellent example of a partnership between the city and its own residents, between City Hall and its own residents,” Cortese added. “This park wasn’t designed bureaucratically. On the other hand, design control wasn’t completely relinquished to people in the neighborhoods. It was truly a partnership, and it is today, as we stand here today.”

Groundbreaking ceremony attendees were also encouraged to volunteer their time in maintaining the park, while munching on snack food provided by sponsors such as McDonald’s, as well as beverages provided by Starbucks and Jamba Juice. Other local businesses sponsoring the event included Aquatic Gallery LLC, as well as Realty World Real Estate and Finance.

For more information about Fowler Creek Park, visit the Friends of Fowler Creek Park Web site at www.fcpfriends.org or go to the District 8 Web site at www.sanjoseca.gov/district8/