{"id":241615,"date":"2020-01-03T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-03T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/plans-in-motion-for-major-revamp-of-childrens-park\/"},"modified":"2020-01-03T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-01-03T08:00:00","slug":"plans-in-motion-for-major-revamp-of-childrens-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/plans-in-motion-for-major-revamp-of-childrens-park\/","title":{"rendered":"Plans in motion for major revamp of Children\u2019s Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

City Council approves plans for $8 million improvement project<\/strong><\/p>\n

Por DAVE FIDLIN | Noticias del Centro<\/p>\n

It has been touted as a project years in the making, but ultimately was made official after just minutes of discussion and unanimous support from San Diego decision-makers.<\/p>\n

Children\u2019s Park, a largely underutilized 1.4-acre green space at 326 W. Harbor Drive, is set to undergo $8 million worth of large-scale improvements that supporters say will give the site an opportunity to live up to its name.<\/p>\n

According to city documents, the park\u2019s refreshed array of features is to include a forest-themed playground area and picnic amenities. Also in the works is an adult exercise equipment area, off-leash dog running area and a vendor building that could serve as a platform for special events.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the construction project, set to wrap in summer 2021, is to carve out new space for public art, a new walkway to the adjacent Civic Pond, a lawn area and attendant-staffed public restrooms.<\/p>\n

The City Council on Dec. 17 issued several pivotal authorizations linked to the project, including approval of the overall plan and a compensation agreement with Civic San Diego, the agency that formerly handled all aspects of Downtown redevelopment.<\/p>\n

Council member Chris Ward, whose district includes Downtown, said he believes Children\u2019s Park and another closely aligned endeavor \u2014 construction of the first phase of the East Village Green park project \u2014 will net positive results in the years ahead.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was a big lift to get a monumental new park facility into the East Village community,\u201d Ward said of the efforts to bring both proposals to reality. \u201cThis has been a very much ongoing project.\u201d<\/p>\n

Council member Scott Sherman also went on record in support of the projects before the formal vote was taken. Sherman said the use of such funding sources as park district revenues and development impact fees is a prudent use of the money.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s for a good cause,\u201d Sherman said. \u201cI think it\u2019s a win-win for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to city officials, none of the park\u2019s $8 million worth of costs will be covered through the municipal operating budget.<\/p>\n

In terms of sustaining the costs for the park, several speakers shared their visions to keep the park\u2019s maintenance and upkeep directly off the city\u2019s tax rolls.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it\u2019s handled correctly, and we produce events, that will also generate some additional income,\u201d David Hazan, past president of the East Village Association, said at the council meeting, in reference to rental income. \u201cIt\u2019s been proven that people will come into the East Village \u2026 for events that are properly produced.\u201d<\/p>\n

Diane Peabody Straw, current president of the East Village Association, said there will be many benefactors of the park improvements \u2014 including, as she described them, the neighborhood\u2019s \u201c15,000 four-legged residents.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe many features that are planned for this park are incredibly needed and will go a long way in making East Village feel like a livable community,\u201d Peabody Straw said.<\/p>\n

The project also has the backing of other groups, including the San Diego Downtown Residents Group.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t thank the staff enough,\u201d Gary Smith, the organization\u2019s president, said. \u201cThe Children\u2019s Park \u2014 from being a grass nothing if you look at the plans \u2014 will actually become a place the community will want to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the city and Civic San Diego formally severed ties this summer in response to a much-publicized court settlement about relations between the two entities, collaborative efforts have since continued.<\/p>\n

In a jointly authored memo, Christina Bibler and Brad Richter of the city\u2019s Economic Development Department clarified why Civic San Diego is still involved in the future of Children\u2019s Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe operating agreement, resulting from a lawsuit settlement, provides for Civic San Diego to implement the wind down of redevelopment activities and to provide the management and completion of specific projects,\u201d Bibler and Richter wrote in the memo.<\/p>\n

With the City Council\u2019s stamp of approval in place, a timeline calls for Civic San Diego to prepare construction documents in January and award a contract in the first half of the year. Further plans call for construction to begin in July or August, which should take close to a year to complete.<\/p>\n

Children\u2019s Park\u2019s roots stretch back 25 years. The current amenities were installed in 1995.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Dave Fidlin es un periodista independiente con una afinidad especial por San Diego y su gente. Cont\u00e1ctelo en dave.fidlin@thinkpost.net<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

City Council approves plans for $8 million improvement project By DAVE FIDLIN | Downtown News It has been touted as a project years in the making, but ultimately was made official after just minutes of discussion and unanimous support from San Diego decision-makers.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":241616,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"Plans in motion for major revamp of Children\u2019s Park","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11551,11600,11550],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-241615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-news","category-sdnews","category-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241615\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}