San Mateo County has received a welcome present to improve its parks.
The county Parks and Recreation Foundation presented gifts recently totaling more than $800,000 to the Board of Supervisors for projects ranging from Bicycle Sunday on Canada Road, to restoration of serpentine grasslands at Edgewood Park, and improvements to the windsurfing staging area at Coyote Point.
The foundation gave the county $479,681 in donations and in-kind gifts. In addition, it has secured over $331,000 in grants that will go directly to the county for park projects.
“These are projects that will preserve the native habitats or enhance the visitors’ experience,” said Julia Bott, executive director for the foundation, which is based in Flood Park in Menlo Park.
Since it was founded in 1998, the parks and recreation foundation has provided $6.8 million to San Mateo County parks, supporting over 30 projects.
Other projects supported by the foundation include acquisition of the coastal bluff at Mirada Surf, and planning for a link in the Coastal Trail; regular support for volunteer and interpretive programs; new playground equipment at Flood Park; distribution of teacher guides and resource kits for teachers, including field guides, binoculars and hand lenses; fish restoration projects on Coastside streams and in Huddart Park; and radios for the volunteer Trail Patrol.
The foundation also published the book, “San Mateo County Parks: A Remarkable Story of Extraordinary Places and the People who Built Them,” by Michael Svanevik and Shirley Burgett, in 2001.
More recently, the foundation has contributed to efforts to secure a dedicated funding source for county parks. In November, county voters will vote on “Parks for the Future,” a proposed 1/8 cent sales tax to support county parks.
Most recently, Ms. Bott said, “We finally finished the parking lot and infrastructure for the Edgewood Interpretive Center.”
For information, call the foundation at 321-5812, or go to supportparks.org.
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