As many residents know, the City of Palo Alto is working on a 25-year Parks, Trails, Open Space and Recreation Master Plan for Palo Alto, including Bol Park. For each park, the city is proposing a variety of upgrades in response to today’s requirements and interests of our population, and the city has been reaching out to ask for community input and feedback on the proposals (e.g., community workshop on 2/11/16, community meeting on 5/25/16, online review at the above website, and more to come).
Overall, this is an exciting long-term development for our city, even as some of the concrete proposals for Bol Park may not fit our environment (e.g., the heritage of this park). In order to ensure organized involvement, the Board of the Barron Park Association has authorized the formation of a committee to study this issue, prepare a response, and work with the city to ensure appropriate upgrades that reflect community-wide concerns. The board appointed long-time resident and former BPA President Dick Placone as chairperson.
Dick will reach out with further information in the coming days and weeks. We are hoping for wide-spread input and participation, from long-time residents to newcomers, and from our youth to families to senior residents, reflecting the diverse community of our neighborhood using this park. We believe that we need to strive for a balance between remembering our past and providing for today’s needs. And, while Bol Park will be the focus, we believe that it may also make sense to think beyond it, in particular to Juana Briones Park and “Strawberry Hill” (the triangle area on the edge of Gunn’s property), where some of the proposed features could be implemented. Note that there is plenty of time, as even the short-term work is scheduled for around a 5-year time frame.
Further options to be involved is to provide feedback to the city online and to attend some of the community meetings. You can also sign up for emails from the city to stay involved and updated with the city’s process.
Markus Fromherz
BPA President
Dear Bol Park Plan Committee,
Sorry to come to this late… I went on a two week vacation on July 2 and missed this announcement.
As a long term BP resident who regularly walks Bol Park, I enjoy its natural lay out between the bike path and the creek. As a person who values history and natural landscapes, I hope that the elderly Black Walnut trees which predate us in this location be replaced with the same species (Juglans hindsii). Since I first walked thru that area in the 1970s, I feel a continuity with the people who lived here before us and depended on the water in the creek and the acorns, nuts and seeds growing in this corridor. We can make improvements for the future, but still have a connection with the past.
Melanie Cross
We have lived in Baron Park for 40 years. Please leave Bol Park the way it is . It is calming natural and wonderful. Please no fast tracks for bikes… If we can help we will. Leave it the way it is PLEASE It means everything to us. We love the trees and the donkeys and it adds value to our lives