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<\/a>Collier Park has a reputation in the neighborhood for being a hangout for transients, drunks and drug users, but La Mesa\u2019s city leaders are hoping to change that with a new master plan to renovate and transform the park.<\/p>\n
The City Council voted in February to approve the final environmental impact report that clears the way for major changes to the park.<\/p>\n
The first phase of upgrades would include wheelchair-accessible pathways, three new playgrounds for different age groups, two gazebos, a new restroom building and a new park entry feature, said Bill Chopyk, the city\u2019s community development director.<\/p>\n
The plan\u2019s second phase would renovate the park\u2019s underutilized hillsides. The city envisions removing the top of the hill on the north side of the park to make room for a clubhouse, parking lot and more amenities, such as space for an oversized chessboard. The hill on the east side of the park could be re-landscaped and graded to create an amphitheater space.<\/p>\n The city also plans to mothball the Spring House, a historic structure built by David C. Collier in 1907 as part of a business that bottled the natural spring water that flows through the park. The Spring House has been deteriorating for decades, but mothballing it will help preserve it until it can be rehabilitated, Chopyk said.<\/p>\n The city has not identified a funding source for any of the renovations in the new master plan, but Chopyk said the completed environmental documents should make it easier for the city to win grants that would provide funding for the renovations.<\/p>\n \u201cI think everyone\u2019s going to be happy with what Collier Park has the potential to become,\u201d said Mayor Mark Arapostathis.<\/p>\n Kurt Stormberg, an orthodontist who owns the office building just south of the park, said the city\u2019s plans for the park will be a great for the neighborhood.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s a part of La Mesa that\u2019s been ignored for quite a while and it would be nice to have this done,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In addition to bringing new amenities to the park, the renovations will also help raise property values for the owners of nearby homes and commercial buildings, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you have a park that isn\u2019t infested with gangs and homeless people and drugs, as it has been in the past\u2026 you start seeing families coming back,\u201d Stormberg said.<\/p>\n One thing that has helped change the park already is the growing popularity of pickleball, a ball-and-paddle game that attracts players to the park on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. The city recently resurfaced the tennis court, making it more palatable to both pickleball and tennis players. Nearby schools have also recently begun to bring children to play at the park in the mornings.<\/p>\n Across the street, a new 60-unit apartment complex called Palm Terrace is about to open. Already, it seems, the construction activity has had an impact on who feels comfortable hanging out at the park.<\/p>\n \u201c[The]\u00a0development is helping the park from the standpoint that it has eyes on it,\u201d said Christopher D\u2019Avignon, whose Land & Design firm\u00a0sold\u00a0the property to Silvergate Development, which is building the apartments.<\/p>\n Park fees the city collects from the new apartments could also contribute some of the money needed to renovate the park, D\u2019Avignon.<\/p>\n Benjamin Baker, a construction superintendent who has been working on the apartment project, recently brought his two-year-old son to the playground. While he has seen people drinking at the park, Baker said it is not enough of a problem to deter him from visiting.<\/p>\n \u201cI think [the park is] big enough that you don\u2019t get that feeling,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a>