{"id":245626,"date":"2012-12-07T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-12-07T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/mckinley-elementary-joint-use-field-moves-forward\/"},"modified":"2012-12-07T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-12-07T08:00:00","slug":"mckinley-elementary-joint-use-field-moves-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/mckinley-elementary-joint-use-field-moves-forward\/","title":{"rendered":"McKinley Elementary joint-use field moves forward"},"content":{"rendered":"

North Park Recreation Department holds meeting to solicit input<\/strong><\/p>\n

Por David Schwab | Reportero SDUN<\/strong><\/p>\n

It will be up to neighbors to help decide how best to redevelop the park at McKinley Elementary School in a joint-use agreement between San Diego Unified School District and the city.<\/p>\n

That is what city Park and Recreation Department officials and landscape architects told local residents at the North Park Recreation Council\u2019s (NPRC) Nov. 26 meeting. The council, which is an advisory group that makes recommendations to the Park Department and Park and Recreation Board, held the meeting to seek public input on the planned joint-use field. The school is located at 3045 Felton St.<\/p>\n

\"McKinley
The corner lot is being renovated as a joint-use park (Photo by Anulak Singphiphat)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThis is really a neighborhood park for you,\u201d said Lynn Elliott, one of four NPRC board members. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of energy around this and it\u2019s really a great opportunity for us to come together and work with the school district and the city.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elliott said District Three Councilmember Todd Gloria\u2019s office has allocated approximately $250,000 for design work for the improvements.<\/p>\n

Debbie Van Martin of the city\u2019s Public Works, Engineering and Capital Projects Department gave an overview of the joint-use field improvements. She said it was an outgrowth of several years\u2019 effort by residents to better utilize the school park by opening it up for public use.<\/p>\n

Van Martin introduced Vicki Estrada and Joe Esposito of Estrada Planning, Inc., the landscape architects chosen to do project-design work.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday we\u2019re going to dream,\u201d Estrada said, who lives near McKinley Elementary School. The meeting was the first public workshop held to gather input from residents on how they would like to see the park redeveloped.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know every nook and cranny, where every kid plays,\u201d Estrada said to attendees. \u201cWe can\u2019t do a good design until we glean every bit of information we can from each of you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Calling McKinley \u201ca small neighborhood park,\u201d Estrada said it is important the area be reconfigured to \u201cblend with what the neighborhood is\u201d for residents.<\/p>\n

Distinguishing features of the four-acre park include several large trees, a stone fence, a blacktop area and a section of grassy open space.<\/p>\n

Estrada said there are numerous options for redeveloping the park, such as working around existing trees or replacing them, as well as placing a sports field, exercise equipment or structures to provide shade. She said other options included replacing the stone wall with other fencing, replacing grass with synthetic turf, utilizing public art or adding a picnic area with tables and benches.<\/p>\n

Those in attendance reacted to Estrada\u2019s comments, including a couple who expressed strong opposition to removing the existing trees, which they said were local landmarks and part of the community fabric.<\/p>\n

When asked for a show of support as to how many would like to see a playing field created, hardly anyone raised their hand.<\/p>\n

Most reacted favorably, though, to suggestions of more passive uses of the park, calling it a community hub and a popular place for people to walk their dogs or play with their children.<\/p>\n

The majority of residents cited the community character of the park and its \u201cnaturalness\u201d as qualities they would like to see preserved in any effort to improve it, and some advocated for an enclosed, leash-free dog area.<\/p>\n

One attendee suggested adding restroom facilities, to which Van Martin responded was not possible based on the extra cost and problems presented by potential vandalism.<\/p>\n

Anthony Bernal from Gloria\u2019s office said future McKinley Park improvements will now move forward, after funding had been secured.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have $250,000 for the initial [design] phase,\u201d he said at the meeting, adding that the next step would be to get a general development permit from the Park Board.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter that it would go out to bid, and a contract would be rewarded,\u201d Bernal said. He estimated the entire process from beginning to end would likely take several years.<\/p>\n

During the NPRC meeting, a survey questionnaire was passed out to attendees soliciting their comments on prospective park improvements. Respondents were requested to return the surveys to Van Martin by Friday, Dec. 7.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll come back in a couple of months, probably in January, with some actual real plans based on what we heard today,\u201d Estrada said, adding that the survey results would be taken into consideration as well.<\/p>\n

For more information, contact Van Martin at 619-533-5414 or dvanmartin@sandiego.gov.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

North Park Recreation Department holds meeting to solicit input By Dave Schwab | SDUN Reporter It will be up to neighbors to help decide how best to redevelop the park at McKinley Elementary School in a joint-use agreement between San Diego Unified School District and the city. That is what city Park and Recreation Department […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":245627,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"McKinley Elementary joint-use field moves forward","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-245626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245626","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=245626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}