San Jose has secured a major investment from the federal government to support the event of a park within the Spartan Keyes neighborhood, providing green space to a historically industrial and underserved area of town.
The U.S. Department of the Interior has awarded San Jose a $4.5 million grant to assist town design and construct a 1.3-acre park on a site on the corner of Third and Keyes streets which has been working on for a long time as a brickworks production site.
“I had the privilege of taking a quick walk and showing the room to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and discovered that the closest park to these neighborhoods is a 30-minute walk away and is not accessible to children, elderly residents or families,” said Mayor Matt Mahan on Friday. “That’s why this investment is so important.”
Launched in 2014 and administered by the National Park Service, the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership grant program provides funding to develop latest recreational spaces or revitalize existing parks in underserved or disadvantaged communities of at the very least 30,000 individuals who have little or no access to those facilities .
The grant program can be a part of the larger “America the Beautiful” initiative launched by the Biden administration to “combat the nature and climate crises, improve equitable access to nature, and strengthen the economy.”
Haaland said that while the Trump administration zeroed out this system, the Biden administration has “doubled down on its efforts.”
This 12 months's park grants totaled nearly $255 million for 54 projects in 24 different states, with grant amounts starting from $390,000 to $15 million.
While California received 14 of those grants totaling about $88 million, Spartan Keyes Park is the one Bay Area project to receive funding.
“From Anaheim to Redding, communities across the state will benefit from expanded access to beautiful outdoor spaces and more outdoor recreation opportunities,” Haaland said. “The work taking place here in San Jose and across the state is an incredible example of the type of collaborative partnerships needed to ensure Americans’ access to nature in every part of our country.”
Rita Torres, a longtime Spartan Keyes resident, said she was excited to listen to in regards to the investment, noting that it felt like a lifetime for the reason that city acquired the land greater than eight years ago and that she previously unsure if she would survive See the way it happens.
Although the precise date of completion of the park is unknown because it has yet to be designed, Mahan expects it to be inbuilt a couple of years.
The grants granted amounted to as much as 50% of the whole costs of the respective projects. In the case of Spartan Keyes Park, the $4.5 million grant is estimated to cover 45% of what town must make it occur.
Although San Jose is currently fighting a half-billion-dollar park maintenance backlog, it continues to prioritize investments in urban amenities. Seven parks have opened this 12 months and two more are within the pipeline.
“Everyone deserves to have access to these public green spaces and amenities close to home,” said Gloria Sandoval, assistant secretary for access on the California Natural Resources Agency. “This builds healthier communities as spending time in nature promotes our physical, mental and social well-being and creates many memories with their families.”
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