By DENNIS WYATT
Managing editor of the
Manteca (Calif.) Bulletin
Library Park - the epicenter of Manteca gatherings 90 years ago when there was also a ball park at the site - is poised to return to its community focal point status next spring.
That’s when the $894,124 expansion of Library Park - paid primarily by fees collected from growth mixed with redevelopment agency funds - is anticipated to be completed.
The Manteca City Council on Tuesday is expected to award the bid for the project to Suarez & Munoz Construction.
It will include:
•Removal of the existing gazebo and replacing it with a larger 28-foot wide gazebo closer to the Tidewater beneath towering sycamore trees. It will include a combination concrete and grass amphitheatre-style seating for about 75 people.
•Converting a portion of Poplar Avenue currently blocked off as well as part of the existing Verizon back parking lot with sod and trees to expand Library Park to create an open area for events and leisure time activities such as playing Frisbee.
•The creation of a baseball plaza with commemorative tiles and seats where the present gazebo is now located.
•The creation of a history walk on the western side of Library Park where ultimately a series of murals will be placed.
•Installation of a bocce ball court.
•Adding a second playground for older children.
It is a continuation of work that has already been done over the last six years including the interactive water play feature, the restrooms, and the tot lot. The previous work was paid for RDA money plus park fees paid by developers when they are issued permits to build new homes.
The removal of part of Verizon’s back parking lot that the city obtained in a land swap to extend the park to the Tidewater Bikeway means the park, if viewed from overhead, will look like a gigantic arrow pointed south with the tip being formed where the Tidewater meets Manteca Avenue.
The expanded Library Park is expected to cost the city $18,000 a year to maintain.
The city has already awarded a bid to Brockman and Woody Electric in the amount of $43,900 to underground existing overhead PG&E power lines and a single Comcast line.
Initially land negotiations between the city and the phone company slowed down the project. During the time talks initially started there were three different corporations that owned the property - Contel, GTE, and Verizon. Once that was settled the next delay involved coordinating and negotiations with Verizon, PG&E. and Comcast for the relocation of various overhead lines.
The Library Park expansion employs a deliberate design that was created after receiving input from nearby residents and businesses. It will be about double the size of the original park.
The expanded park is divided into three areas - the gazebo-amphitheater, an open area for Whiffle ball and such as well as community fairs, and the playground segment.
The interactive water feature was designed as the park’s focal point. It combines in its design the concept of train tracks, agricultural fields, and irrigation canals -combines three elements critical to Manteca’s founding - in a pavement design pattern.
One segment of the water feature has low, arching jets representing the irrigation of agricultural fields. The play area is designed for younger kids.
The spray jets in the play area for older kids are computer controlled to mimic the rhythm of a train with the final jet of water from underground chambers being a huge gusher representing the train engine.
The water play feature is a stone’s throw from the original Cowell Station that served as the first rail stop for milk shipping in the late 19th century. It is also near where the old Southern Pacific Railroad station was before it was torn down.
Managing editor of the
Manteca (Calif.) Bulletin
Library Park - the epicenter of Manteca gatherings 90 years ago when there was also a ball park at the site - is poised to return to its community focal point status next spring.
That’s when the $894,124 expansion of Library Park - paid primarily by fees collected from growth mixed with redevelopment agency funds - is anticipated to be completed.
The Manteca City Council on Tuesday is expected to award the bid for the project to Suarez & Munoz Construction.
It will include:
•Removal of the existing gazebo and replacing it with a larger 28-foot wide gazebo closer to the Tidewater beneath towering sycamore trees. It will include a combination concrete and grass amphitheatre-style seating for about 75 people.
•Converting a portion of Poplar Avenue currently blocked off as well as part of the existing Verizon back parking lot with sod and trees to expand Library Park to create an open area for events and leisure time activities such as playing Frisbee.
•The creation of a baseball plaza with commemorative tiles and seats where the present gazebo is now located.
•The creation of a history walk on the western side of Library Park where ultimately a series of murals will be placed.
•Installation of a bocce ball court.
•Adding a second playground for older children.
It is a continuation of work that has already been done over the last six years including the interactive water play feature, the restrooms, and the tot lot. The previous work was paid for RDA money plus park fees paid by developers when they are issued permits to build new homes.
The removal of part of Verizon’s back parking lot that the city obtained in a land swap to extend the park to the Tidewater Bikeway means the park, if viewed from overhead, will look like a gigantic arrow pointed south with the tip being formed where the Tidewater meets Manteca Avenue.
The expanded Library Park is expected to cost the city $18,000 a year to maintain.
The city has already awarded a bid to Brockman and Woody Electric in the amount of $43,900 to underground existing overhead PG&E power lines and a single Comcast line.
Initially land negotiations between the city and the phone company slowed down the project. During the time talks initially started there were three different corporations that owned the property - Contel, GTE, and Verizon. Once that was settled the next delay involved coordinating and negotiations with Verizon, PG&E. and Comcast for the relocation of various overhead lines.
The Library Park expansion employs a deliberate design that was created after receiving input from nearby residents and businesses. It will be about double the size of the original park.
The expanded park is divided into three areas - the gazebo-amphitheater, an open area for Whiffle ball and such as well as community fairs, and the playground segment.
The interactive water feature was designed as the park’s focal point. It combines in its design the concept of train tracks, agricultural fields, and irrigation canals -combines three elements critical to Manteca’s founding - in a pavement design pattern.
One segment of the water feature has low, arching jets representing the irrigation of agricultural fields. The play area is designed for younger kids.
The spray jets in the play area for older kids are computer controlled to mimic the rhythm of a train with the final jet of water from underground chambers being a huge gusher representing the train engine.
The water play feature is a stone’s throw from the original Cowell Station that served as the first rail stop for milk shipping in the late 19th century. It is also near where the old Southern Pacific Railroad station was before it was torn down.
