Three women from the Los Arroyos neighborhood congregated at the
edge of a chain link fence Monday, chatting about big plans for the
gated area inside. The two and a half acres they were discussing
include a children’s playground, two basketball half courts and
plenty of green space dotted with picnic tables.
Gilroy – Three women from the Los Arroyos neighborhood congregated at the edge of a chain link fence Monday, chatting about big plans for the gated area inside. The two and a half acres they were discussing include a children’s playground, two basketball half courts and plenty of green space dotted with picnic tables.
Martha Escobedo, Judy Hess and Margaret Lawrence have lived near the future site of Los Arroyos Park, at the end of Hirasaki Drive, for differing numbers of years. But all three are equally excited to use the park for holiday festivals, movie nights and other events designed to knit the community together.
“We can’t wait for that fence to come down,” Escobedo said. “We have so many plans.”
Los Arroyos Park, scheduled for an official ribbon-cutting ceremony Oct. 15, is one of three much-anticipated public spaces opening in the city’s northwest quadrant in coming weeks. Officials also plan to unveil Carriage Hills and Sunrise parks by early November.
“Obviously it’s another exciting time for Gilroy,” Mayor Al Pinheiro said. “Three more parks. It’s been a long time coming.”
Spanning eight acres at the outer edge of the city, Sunrise Park is the largest of the three. Like the other parks, it features a children’s playground and basketball courts, but also has room for a baseball field and tennis courts.
Together, the three parks have cost nearly $3.7 million, according to the latest tally from city financial analyst Patricia Bentson.
The city’s parks and recreation master plan envisions roughly five acres of park space per 1,000 residents. In addition to current construction of an 80-acre sports complex in the south of the city, plans are already in the works for another set of parks in coming years as part of development plans for Hecker Pass and Glen Loma Ranch, which will bring 1,700 residential units to the city’s southwest quadrant.
