Kelley Park Master Plan Update
By Paige Combs, Sociology Community Change Major at SJSU
I attended the November 5th, 2015 community event to discuss future plans at Kelley Park at the City of San Jose Leininger Community Center. I was impressed by how the event was organized. It began with a quick history of the park, then was followed by the results from an online survey that people took who used the park. The individuals who attended this event were then all organized into groups and given a master plan sheet of changes they would make as well as a park map. We were then all given free reign for about twenty-five minutes to discuss the future of Kelley Park.
Kelley Park has gone through quite a range of renovations. Many of them, like the train, individuals would like to see back in action. Others facilities individuals have suggested include the complete removal of or having entirely new additions, like the disc golf course. This was provided with an online survey that Melissa Erikson helped produce, a Senior Associate who helped organize the future landscape of Kelley Park.
The project leaders quickly found, based on survey responses, that a master trail as well as alternative free parking would be essential. There were some complaints, such as issues surrounding homelessness and the lack of surrounding water and bathroom facilities included in the scripts, but there were also suggestions such as expanding the disc golf course, putting the train back in, more animals at the zoo and potentially adding in a water park or other modes of entertainment. Also, people discussed that the amphitheater needed to be more effectively utilized and that by encouraging local musicians to play here, this would bring in more people to use the space. Currently, people predominantly use Kelley Park for about 3-4 hours and only sometimes do they plan to use it the entire day. The hope is that through surveys and getting community involvement Kelley Park will be a better space for the locals and outside visitors.
This was a creative method to get more people involved in their community. Anyone who hasn’t used or visited Kelley Park for recreational activities, I highly recommend you do so.
As always, thanks to the organizers of this event and many thanks to Deb Kramer for always including me in these opportunities. Also, please take the survey about Kelley Park posted on their website. Survey here!
Some things to think about:
What do you think about the master plan?
What would you add in?
What would you take away?
Leave your comments below!