$2 million pledged for Woodside park $2 million pledged for Woodside park (October 15, 2003)

By Andrea Gemmet
Almanac Staff Writer

A plan to build a playing field and park near Canada College in Woodside took several strides forward last week, winning a vital approval from a town planning body as supporters reached a key fund-raising goal.

Pledges totaling $2.1 million to pay for the construction of Barkley Family Fields and Park have been raised so far, said Woodside resident Liz Dressel. Project supporters had been racing to meet a $800,000 matching funds challenge that expires October 15, she said. Now that the matching funds are secured, supporters are focusing on raising the remaining $400,000 of the project's estimated $2.5 million cost.

The park is to be built on approximately six acres of donated land on Farm Hill Boulevard opposite Canada College. Woodside currently has no municipal park and the only athletic fields are at Woodside Elementary School.

Site plans for Barkley field, which include an overlapping baseball and soccer field, a playground, restrooms and a parking lot, were unanimously approved by the Woodside Architectural and Site Review Board on October 6.

Board members added to the required number of oak trees to be planted along Farm Hill Boulevard and Woodhill Drive to screen the park, but otherwise concurred with town staff on the project, said Claudia Marshall, chair of the ASRB.

The next step for the Barkley field project is to go before the Planning Commission, which is tentatively scheduled for the January 14 meeting.

Pledges for the project have ranged from $10 to $100,000 donations, according to Ms. Dressel, who said there are a number of residents who have been trying for years to get a park built in Woodside. Barkley field will fill a void that the elementary school can't, not just for youth sports teams, but for families with small children as well, she said.

"There's no play structure you can go to in town during the school day. It's really frustrating," Ms. Dressel said. "I spent the early years of my motherhood driving everywhere but my own town."

So far, the only stumbling block has been resistance from residents of Redwood City's Woodhill Estates subdivision, which is adjacent to the property. Town Manager Susan George has been working with a group of neighborhood representatives to allay their concerns. Pamela Martinson, president of the Woodhill Estates homeowners association, could not be reached for comment by the Almanac's deadline.

For information on the project, call Woodside Town Hall at 851-6790. For information on supporters' fund-raising efforts, go to www.4Barkley.com.