When roughly 90 people walked into the Alpine Community Center Aug. 29 to discuss plans to develop a park by Wright’s field, they were surprised to find scissors, glue, and paper elements representing possible amenities laid out in the middle of each table.
Described as old-school kindergarten supplies by one young participant, the printed ballfields, skate park, restrooms and other possible structures were integral to the collaborative, project driven meeting.
Attendees were asked to sit at one of 14 available tables and take about 25 minutes to discuss what they thought belonged in the new park, which is being developed by the county of San Diego. After each group designed and built their ideal park, a representative speaker from each table informally presented their ideas to the room at large for about five minutes.
Although some cheering was heard at the mention of a few items, such as a skate park or a space to play pickleball, the majority of the presentation was spent quietly considering all of the ideas presented by different groups.
County of San Diego Chief of Project Development Jill Bankston said that the process was specifically designed to push past debate over what should be included at the park and move forward with development.
The items included at each table were based upon feedback and tabulated outcomes from community meetings held over the past four months.
“We are here to get community input and understand w h a t the community wants, and of course to get a new park in Alpine,” Bankston said.
There were groups at either extreme, with several tables striving to include every possible amenity in a thoughtful manner until Bankston interjected and reminded attendees that they were welcome to use all of the items but did not have to do so.
At the other end of the spectrum, Peggie Katz and Tamara Ham voiced their concern over losing a naturalist’s playground and insisting that the space should remain as natural as possible, left out all formal structures.
“We have the chocolate lily that is just coming back again because it is not being tormented by concrete, and there’s mockingbirds and hummingbirds, quail and doves— there’s all sorts of wildlife out there and if we just go out and peacefully watch the sunrise or sunset, you can see all the beauty of nature. Putting in ballfields with floodlights and concrete, people playing radios… plus you’re going to have to widen the roads to facilitate large structures of this and it is going to change the complete dynamic of this beautiful field that’s been here and appreciated for years,” Ham said.
The gathering included fewer than 20 children, yet two different groups focused primarily on their request for a skate park.
Retired California Department of Social Services employee and community activist Terry Burke-Eiserling coordinated efforts amongst attendees who all share the desire to see a skate park built into the facility.
Kody Grant, 16, Jake Fish, 16, and Troy Wolf, 17 all expressed their frustration that there is no legal place for kids to skateboard in Alpine.
Horse facilities were also in high demand, with John and Diana Anderson leading the charge for a staging area with accompanying parking, ostensibly for safety reasons.
“Diana is really pushing for a horse staging area. An individual was killed crossing the road and our table is working out how best to build in parking,” Anderson said.
Another repeated request was a dog park. Mary Harris, who brought her dog to a March 5 meeting and said that Pup-Pup had asked for a dog park spoke for herself at the Thursday’s meeting but with the same request. She was not alone in asking for a dedicated dog park and was met with applause.
After every table sent their representative up to present ideas to everyone, Bankston closed the meeting by thanking the community and informed attendees that their ideas would be compiled.
The next meeting in the park development process has not yet been announced.
