Our long-awaited sports park that just opened in south Gilroy is
definitely something special. It’s a beautiful facility. Let’s make
sure we keep it that way, and let’s make sure it grows.
Our long-awaited sports park that just opened in south Gilroy is definitely something special.
It’s a beautiful facility. Let’s make sure we keep it that way, and let’s make sure it grows.
Though it’s not a sexy or exciting topic, maintenance is an important issue – whether it’s at our schools, parks or city library.
We’ve seen athletic fields in the area – the Morgan Hill soccer complex, for example – that were poorly maintained, and we don’t want that fate to befall the pristine stretches of grass that recently hosted their first athletes.
Toward that end, the city should consider and evaluate the costs and benefits of using outside contractors versus city employees for the maintenance work. Furthermore, the creation of a volunteer community maintenance advisory panel could help keep the park in close-to-perfect shape. Representatives from Little League, recreation softball and youth soccer could meet four times a year. Their job would be to keep a close eye on the park, report to the city and community and make recommendations for keeping it green and clean.
When Mayor Al Pinheiro cut the ribbon at the park’s grand opening ceremony, he said, “All I ask of you is that we all work together and keep the future in mind.”
That’s a very apropos thought for the sports park because the best way to make it a recreational hub is for the city to find ways to speed the development of the park’s planned additional phases.
While we’re doing that, it’s worth noting the great lack of a multiple-field soccer facility in the region as well as the significant potential for transient occupancy taxes (motel and hotel taxes) and sales taxes from the visitors such a facility would draw. An early sports park expansion might pencil out much sooner than expected.
The city of Roseville provides an example of how to do such a project. Let’s study it and replicate the ideas that will work in Gilroy.
Gilroy has a wonderful new facility with the sports park. Let’s keep it that way, and let’s find ways to make it even better.
