Bayside Park in Burlingame, built on a landfill and now home to playing fields, is being pointed to by some as an example of what might be possible at Bayfront Park. But are the two parks really similar enough to warrant such comparison?
Like Menlo Park’s 160-acre Bayfront Park, the 22-acre park off Airport Boulevard is built on a closed landfill adjacent to the Bay. But unlike Bayfront, which was built specifically for passive recreation, Bayside Park was built with active recreational uses in mind.
Less than half of Bayside — only 10 acres — sit on the closed landfill, but before the landfill was capped, most of the garbage was pushed to one side, said Jim Kelly, a project manager for the city of Burlingame. Therefore, the majority of the park is flat, developable land, Mr. Kelly said.
“This was a seven-part process,” Mr. Kelly said. “The city planned on developing some of the park for recreational use, so one of the earlier steps was to level the garbage as much as possible.”
Mr. Kelly, who wasn’t directly involved with the project, said the final phase included building a lighted, full-sized soccer field and a driving range on the former landfill — work completed about five years ago.
He did not know the specific building cost of the soccer field.
The park also has three baseball/softball diamonds located on the 12 acres of the park not built on landfill, and walking trails run throughout the park, Mr. Kelly said.
Bayfront Park in Menlo Park was not planned with active recreation in mind. The topography of the park is deliberately uneven, as the park was intended for passive uses such as hiking and bird watching, according to the 1976 environmental impact report.
That report emphasizes that recreational facilities such as playing fields would be “inconsistent with the natural character of this park.”
