South City park to receive $2 million improvements
By: Andrea Koskey
Examiner Staff Writer
November 5, 2009
 |
| South San Francisco officials are hoping to have Westborough Park’s face lift completed by spring 2011, and will seek input from the community. (Mike Koozmin/Special to The Examiner) |
Eleven acres of park in the center of South San Francisco are slated to get a face lift with new landscaping, sidewalks and playground equipment using $2 million of development fees set aside for the project.
City engineer Ray Razavi said specific upgrades for Westborough Park are still to be decided.
“We will ask for community input once we get a landscape architect,” he said.
The city is currently outreaching to architecture firms for proposals to do the park improvement work. They'll accept proposals until the end of November, Razavi said.
The city would like to see improvements to the park's picnic areas, which are greatly underutilized, as well as repairs to the pathways and new playground equipment, Razavi said.
“A lot of the pathways and walkways are all crumbling, [with] roots coming through,” Razavi said. The park's softball fields could use some improvements too, Razavi said.
“The back fence is too short,” he said. “When the kids hit the ball, it goes over and hits the two last rows on the seating.”
A landscaping architect should be hired by early 2010, he said, with the city starting community meetings with neighboring residents by next summer in an effort to have design concepts by the end of the year. South San Francisco officials hope to have the upgrades completed by the spring of 2011.
Harry Gidwani, manager of the Westborough Way Homeowners Association, said while the park is not rundown, improvements would be welcome.
“A lot of people are using it so it could use an upgrade,” Gidwani said.
Money for the park comes from a fund generated through fees developers pay to the city.
