By Khalida Sarwari
Proving that beauty really isn’t cheap, a Hakone Gardens facelift could set the place back upwards of $30 million, according to a preliminary bill presented by a consultant group overseeing the development of the master plan for the venue.
Representatives from the Portico Group shared this information with the Hakone Foundation board of trustees and Saratoga City Council and staff members at a public workshop on Aug. 27. About a dozen people from the community were also in attendance.
The consultants also presented a more refined proposed site plan for the venue since the last meeting in May. Many of the city officials walked away impressed, if a little overwhelmed by the hefty price tag; residents, on the other hand, not so much. A number of them took issue especially with a proposed event center.
“I thought your master plan presentation was beautiful, but as a citizen we don’t need an event center,” said Peggy Lynne. “That’s a mistake that’s being presented here. The garden would be lovely, but the concept of using that event center 50 percent of the time is wrong.”
What Lynne is referring to is the Cultural Exchange Center, which the Portico Group wants to turn into an event space. Another possibility is to build a brand new event hall. Their plan is to make it soundproof, but some residents are still concerned about noise leakage. A few questioned the appropriateness of putting in an event center at Hakone. Foundation members say doing so would raise Hakone’s stature and bring in additional revenue.
While the plan is still in the early stages, here’s a look at what could be in store for Hakone: a reconfigured parking lot, new tea room, a gift shop and restroom, and myriad upgrades and renovations throughout the gardens, namely the koi pond.
The goal, said the Portico Group’s Paul Sorensen, is to imbue the gardens with Japanese aesthetics.
“The new buildings should not be modern, but they should be contemporary,” he said.
Consultants created the plan with five key points in mind, said Sorensen. They are to respect and maintain Hakone’s structures and gardens, maintain the parking count, cluster new buildings and structures closer together, improve the koi pond’s water quality and consider the best use for the Cultural Exchange Center.
The proposed site for the gift shop and tea room is in the inner parking lot west of the main parking lot. The entry will also be relocated to that region.
“We’re going to demolish the asphalt in the inner parking lot and make a new inner courtyard and gardens,” said Sorensen.
Meanwhile, the main parking lot would be regraded and reconfigured to meet ADA-accessibility standards. The gate will have a ramp that takes visitors to the lower courtyard and another one that leads to the upper courtyard, making the buildings accessible to anyone that has an accessibility challenge, said Sorensen.
“We’re also looking at creating a pathway that goes between the koi pond and upper house,” he added. “What we’re trying to do is make the whole garden space completely accessible and easy as demographic studies show people will age in the Saratoga and San Jose areas.”
A few smaller facilities are also planned. There’s one, for example, for garden operations at the very south point along the inner parking lot. A second building would serve as a storage for koi pond equipment.
The consultants quoted an estimate of $26.8 million for the project, but with unforeseen factors coming into play, that number could very likely climb up to $30 million, said Sorensen.
Ann Waltonsmith, chairwoman of the Hakone board, didn’t appear too fazed by the price tag.
“Thirty million is a hell of a lot of money,” she said. “But you have to have a roadmap first before people are going to buy into the cost of it. You don’t just start with asking people for money without having a plan. You have a plan first and then you get the money.”
With the master plan fine-tuned, the next step for consultants is to embark on a CEQA study to study environmental impacts and other factors, such as traffic and aesthetics. This process is expected to take about three months, after which the study will be submitted to the city for review.
Meanwhile, for the city and Hakone Foundation board, the next step will entail finding a way to come up with $30 million. Hakone officials hinted that while the task will be challenging it would be worth it to keep Hakone sustainable for another 100 years.
Link: Proposed Hakone facelift would come with $30 million price tag
