I believe the Spirit of Foster City is found in our parks and recreation facilities. There is no better example of this Spirit than Ryan Park.
Originally the Park was part of the developer's contribution to the new town. The contractor moved in some earth and created some contours, planted some trees and grass. A boardwalk was built along the lagoon edge, and walkways were built through the park.
But there was no drainage plan, no soil amendments applied, and very little knowledge of how the area would be used by our residents. Because of these deficiencies, Ryan Park became expensive to maintain, and no longer fully met our city’s needs.
Four years ago the City Council approved a plan to completely rebuild Ryan Park. This plan removed almost the entire old park and replaced it with a well-engineered and totally new park. The engineering design and landscape plan of the park was the done by the Foster City Parks Division. With the exception of the boardwalk replacement, the new concrete structures including the amphitheatre, and some electrical wireing, your city employees are doing all of the work.
On many occasions residents have asked why Ryan Park was taking so long to complete. Well, I said, there are two very good reasons. First we wanted as perfect a park as could be constructed, and second we needed to stay within our budget. We needed to accomplish this with existing manpower.
People would ask why no one seemed to be working on Ryan Park, or why there was no activity. The reason is the same people who work on the Ryan Park must also maintain the other 20 parks in Foster City. They worked on building a new Ryan Park on the regular maintenance days for the old Ryan Park. That made the job longer, but it also made the park better.
The Parks Division people building the park have complete knowledge of the substructure of the new Ryan Park. They built it. They paid meticulous attention to details constructing the park.
The City planned and budgeted $7.2 million for the Ryan Park Project. $6.5 million was from Redevelopment Agency funds, and $700,000 was from State and Federal Grant funds. The City Council did not go in debt or dip into General Fund Reserves for this project.
We are now in the Final Phase of work that will be completed on October 30th of this year. You have been enjoying the amphitheater and Boardwalk for almost two years, and enjoying the main park area across from the Metro Center for all of this year. The new path alongside the lagoon and the Bocce Ball courts were opened recently, and we are enjoying the new facilities that support the Summer Concert Series at the Amphitheater.
There will be an official opening ceremony for the new Ryan Park on Sunday, November 13th of this year. Plan to be there. I urge every resident to give your Parks Division workers a smile and a greeting when they see these great employees at work on Foster City parks.
print 