Construction Happening In St. James Park
St. James Park, one of the many famous parks in Downtown San Jose, is marked by historic buildings that surround it in every direction. In the past few weeks, there has been some changes to the park. The old buildings that sat in the Eastern portion of it are no longer there. Phase I of the Park’s newMaster Plan has commenced.
The buildings were once home for Senior Citizen activities. Those activities have since been relocated to the Roosevelt Community Center which allowed for San Jose Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services to step in and begin construction of the Master Plan.
The St. James Park Master Plan was originally adopted in 2002 but couldn’t start due to funding limitations. The entire park is intended to be remodeled but now, it will be remodeled in phases.
The first Phase is to demolish the existing buildings and replace them with turf. The project was originally budgeted at $700,000 but since was scaled back to approximately $300,000.
What changed?
Well, as we’re all heard, the San Jose Redevelopment Agency is scraping for money (once a financial contributor to the project) and the City of San Jose is in the midst of a financial crisis (another contributor to the project). St. James Park is affected as a result. But really, there’s not much to complain. The construction project will absolutely improve the park.
In an interview with Matt Cano from the San Jose Park Service he said, “I’m looking forward to more open space and better views.” By eliminating the old buildings, the park will achieve this and more. By the end of March the project will be completed.
When construction of future phases of the park’s Master Plan is still undetermined. It all boils down to funding and where these funds come from is an unknown.
Cano commented about the possibility of getting grant funding but it’s stuff competition from not only other parks in the region but locally as well. Another funding possibility is from park fees generated from new Downtown San Jose housing developments. There are many planned or entitled residential units, all of which will be subject to parks fees, but again, this is uncertain for reasons we can all image.
For the time bring though, the San Jose construction in St. James Park is a nice change and one that can be appreciated by all. Check it out next time you’re driving by on North 3rd street.
The buildings were once home for Senior Citizen activities. Those activities have since been relocated to the Roosevelt Community Center which allowed for San Jose Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services to step in and begin construction of the Master Plan.
The St. James Park Master Plan was originally adopted in 2002 but couldn’t start due to funding limitations. The entire park is intended to be remodeled but now, it will be remodeled in phases.
The first Phase is to demolish the existing buildings and replace them with turf. The project was originally budgeted at $700,000 but since was scaled back to approximately $300,000.
What changed?
Well, as we’re all heard, the San Jose Redevelopment Agency is scraping for money (once a financial contributor to the project) and the City of San Jose is in the midst of a financial crisis (another contributor to the project). St. James Park is affected as a result. But really, there’s not much to complain. The construction project will absolutely improve the park.
In an interview with Matt Cano from the San Jose Park Service he said, “I’m looking forward to more open space and better views.” By eliminating the old buildings, the park will achieve this and more. By the end of March the project will be completed.
When construction of future phases of the park’s Master Plan is still undetermined. It all boils down to funding and where these funds come from is an unknown.
Cano commented about the possibility of getting grant funding but it’s stuff competition from not only other parks in the region but locally as well. Another funding possibility is from park fees generated from new Downtown San Jose housing developments. There are many planned or entitled residential units, all of which will be subject to parks fees, but again, this is uncertain for reasons we can all image.
For the time bring though, the San Jose construction in St. James Park is a nice change and one that can be appreciated by all. Check it out next time you’re driving by on North 3rd street.
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