September 10, 2004

Canyon Creek Park groundbreaking draws 200
Projected completion: April 2005

(From left): Landscape Maintenance Manager Todd Capurso, Councilmember Dave Cortese, Deputy Fire Chief Dana Reed, Police Chief Rob Davis and residents Rigo Chacon, Mary Carol Murphy and Debra Murphy officially break ground at the new Canyon Creek Park.

More than 200 people braved one of the hottest days of the summer to attend groundbreaking ceremonies for San Jose’s newest park on Aug. 28. Situated along the Thompson Creek corridor, Canyon Creek Park will be located at San Felipe and Larkspur Canyon Road when construction is complete in the spring of 2005.

Local Evergreen/Silver Creek residents enjoyed food, drinks, music and activities for the children. The ceremony also provided an opportunity to celebrate a successful joint effort with the city as one step to address a growing concern about what is happening to the sparse amount of vacant land left in the Evergreen/Silver Creek area.

Master of Ceremonies Rigo Chacon, local resident and former ABC News reporter, set the tone by reminiscing about his days as a youth working in the nearby orchards and fields that the park overlooks. He stressed the importance of having a sense of community—something that he feels this park will help to preserve.

District 8 Councilmember Dave Cortese welcomed a number of guests and city officials who were present. The guests included San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis, San Jose Deputy Fire Chief Dana Reed, city of San Jose Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services Parks Manager for District 8 Brian Hartsell and former Parks Manager Todd Capurso, along with that department’s Special Events Coordinators Demetria Adams and Brian Clampitt and Cecil Lawson, ESUHSD board of trustees candidate.

“It is important that the entire community remain focused on maintaining the quality of life of this area,” said Cortese. “This is going to be a place where people can go play, sit and meditate or do whatever they want.

“I can assure you that the same general quality of life and ambiance that I enjoyed as a little kid still exists here and will for generations to come through the development of this park and through the preservation of this particular piece of Evergreen,” he added.

Sponsors support community
In the spirit of cooperation common in the Silver Creek/Evergreen area, many merchants sponsored the event, including Jamba Juice, McDonalds, Hometown Buffet, Andiamo’s Pizzeria, Pasta Pomodoro, Mega Byte Pizza Co., Starbucks Silver Creek Valley Road, Kerry Sexton of Windemere Properties, Leola Watkins of Washington Mutual Loans, the Gevorkian Family, Dr. Tillmanns Orthodontics and Nicole Trieu or Century 21 Alpha.

“We don’t usually see sponsors like this at a park dedication event. These businesses are dedicated to the community,” Cortese commented.

Violinists Dr. Lisa Chu from “The Music Within Us,” Nancy Naroff of the Mission Chamber Orchestra and her son Dylan provided the festive music. A fire truck from the San Jose Fire Department and the San Jose Police Department Mounted Police provided additional entertainment for the kids, while child fingerprinting offered by the SJPD Community Services provided a welcome precautionary safety measure for parents.

“This beautiful park is an example of how local residents can work together with the city to make something happen,” said Debra Murphy, chair of the parks committee for Silver Creek Valley Community Organization (SCVCO). “We look forward to future successes as more people realize that they can make a difference.”

About Canyon Creek Park
The city of San Jose acquired 37 acres along Thompson Creek several years ago when the Hillstone and BelAire neighborhoods were first developed. Using Hillstone Park as a working title, the community met with city representatives periodically to create the vision for this neighborhood park.

According to Hartsell, a discussion about the formal name for the park site took place at an Aug. 18 community meeting held at James F. Smith Elementary School. In general, participants at that meeting expressed support for a name that promoted a broad sense of community ownership and did not mislead people about the location of the site.

This led to a listing of potential names primarily based on the natural setting of the future park. After a series of elimination votes, those attending the meeting selected the name of Canyon Creek Park. This name was forwarded to the San Jose Parks and Recreation Commission for discussion on Sept. 1, and the commission will soon make a formal recommendation to the City Council for action.

Now the first improvements are underway due to the efforts of local residents led by Debra Murphy, the San Jose Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services Department, Councilmember Cortese and Council Assistant Rabia Chaudhry.

The parks department will develop 1.2 acres of this land with a turf area, small plaza with seating and fountain, combined youth/tot play area with adjacent arborcovered seating, walkways, decorative fencing, security lighting and landscape. Scheduled to open in April 2005, this project has progressed from a vision to reality.

Interested residents can track the project on the city of San Jose’s Public Works Web site: http://www.ci.sanjose.ca.us/pub_wrks.