City Hears from Residents on Civic Center Park Improvements

With several ideas in hand on what kind of enhancements residents would like to see made to Civic Center Park, the city is moving ahead with applying for a state grant funded through Proposition 84.

About a dozen community members took park in the third and final meeting on the grant, held by the city on Saturday morning.

There is $184M available through Proposition 84 park grant funding, which is to be used to build new parks or enhance existing parks in needy communities, said Barbara Kraber, an analyst with the Community Development department. The maximum grant award is $5M.

“This is a nice opportunity to finish what was started 10 years ago,” Kraber said.

Several options were posted on a large board for the public to consider, and participants were encouraged to offer their own ideas to “Build Your Own Park.” The City Council has said options could not increase the park’s maintenance costs, which are currently about $1,500 a month.

Saturday’s crowd was mostly older adults, whose top choices were adding a bandstand/stage, preserving the open space, and a dog park.

Other meetings took place on Wednesday at the park, which drew a lot of younger families, according to Kraber, and on Feb. 20 at Golden Avenue Elementary School.

Wednesday night’s group opted for a dog park, a new or reconditioned centerpiece, preserving open space, gazebos, and a tot lot.

Posted options included play equipment chosen by the 480 students surveyed at Golden Avenue School. At the Feb. 20 meeting, 44 percent of the students surveyed selected a pirate-themed tot lot for ages 2 to 5 years old; and 31 percent selected a frontier-themed playground for ages 5 to 12 years old.

Other suggestions to choose from were exercise stations, game tables, community gardens, gazebos, barbecues and picnic areas, restroom facilities, a native plant walk, and bonfire stadium seating.

Participants were given stickers to denote their first, second and third choices on the different features, and then split into two groups to place the features on a map of the park.

Tom Wall, who has lived in Lemon Grove for seven years, voted to  preserve the open space, saying he often sees people sitting out in the sun, and kids playing football on the grass.

“That’s what parks are all about—playing,” he said.

Thea Davis, who moved to Lemon Grove in November, voted for a new park centerpiece featuring natural materials, saying it would be a good reminder for children in 10 or 20 years of what nature looks like.

“But I was also open to the bandstand idea,” she said.

The city will now compile the information gathered at the meetings and put together a cost estimate to file with the grant application. The deadline to apply is July 1.

Proposition 84 is a two round grant program, and this is the final round. Last year, more than 400 applications were submitted, according to Matt Capuzzi of Kimley-Horn, the outside agency helping the city apply for the grant. Of those, 62 were granted.

According to Capuzzi, the city should know by spring of 2012 if it has been awarded the grant.