By Khalida Sarwari
The master plan for the Quarry Park is far from finalized, but at a recent community workshop the public had an opportunity to play around with two proposed concepts to guide the development of the future park.
The Planning Center DC&E, the company that was hired in March to develop a master plan for the 64-acre Quarry property, presented the first theme as “Saratoga’s hidden playground” and the second as “digging into the past.”
The first centers around the play areas in the park and would resemble Tilden Park, with many spaces for picnicking and a focal event space. For this concept, community members suggested ideas such as providing parking access to the play areas, using “natural” in the playground’s name and keeping the playground as natural as possible.
The second theme emphasizes the site’s mining history, both as a theme for a historical interpretation program and also highlighting the mining infrastructure within the park, emphasizing interpretive trails and access to the historic mining structure. According to representatives from the Planning Center, the site was used for mining from the 1850s to the 1960s and remnants of the mining history can still be spotted throughout the park. Community members recommended building either a museum or a learning center kiosk and saving the stonework throughout the park.
Other suggestions were to create a second parking area that would have other uses besides parking and would be wheelchair-accessible. One group wanted picnic and open space areas and mountain bike trails. Some of the amenities people suggested were a zip-line course, arboretum, natural garden, Frisbee golf course, bocce ball court, first aid station and informal multi-use field.
Some community members suggested creating different types of trails and making some shorter and some longer, posting interpretive signage, adding an overlook site or vista point and building a bathroom in the parking lot and another in the day use area. One group recommended creating an iPhone app to assist people in getting around.
The workshop, hosted on Sept. 10 by Saratoga’s parks and recreation commission, drew about two dozen people. Before breaking out into small groups for an hour-long brainstorming session, community members had a chance to see a presentation by the Planning Center on the project overview and process, goals and vision, history of the site, existing conditions and opportunities and constraints. One of the goals presented was to enhance connectivity to neighboring communities and open spaces.
The Planning Center also updated the community on what the group has done since the first workshop on July 9. Crews have mapped out the utility systems and discovered about a mile of drivable roads, more than three miles of overgrown and abandoned roads and tractor trails and drainage problems on some roads. The topography of the site is considered a “huge constraint.”
Residents will have another opportunity to provide input on the planning process on Nov. 12. At that meeting, the Planning Center will present a more defined concept plan using the feedback generated thus far.
Located on Highway 9 near the Saratoga Village and Hakone Gardens, the property was purchased by the city in 2011 with the goal of developing a park that will promote public access and recreation, encourage resource protection and develop local and regional trail connections. The park is expected to be open in the next two or three years with its full potential unveiled over the next two decades.
Public plays around with different ideas at workshop for Quarry Park
