90 Menlo Park Residents Cleaned Up Flood Park

Over 90 Neighbors Cleaned Up Flood Park!
On National Public Lands Day Sept. 24, 2011 at Flood Park

Over 90 park supporters from East Menlo Park, Redwood City and Menlo Park painted, pruned trees and detailed the play structure at Flood Park to show their support for the beleaguered park. Menlo Park City Council members and Kelly Ferguson joined volunteers ages two to seventy plus in preparing for its (temporary) reopening later this fall.

Four members of Summit High School’s Baseball team racked leaves and carted away debris in the home of their practice and game fields prior to the closure of the park last fall for PUC pipeline repairs. Friends of Flood Park invited neighbors to a work day on September 24, 2011 from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm at historic Flood Park, 215 Bay Road, in Menlo Park, California. This event was cosponsored by the San Mateo County Parks and Recreation Department who provided staff and equipment for the families and individuals who came out to work.

Rob Silono, Candidate for Board Member; , and his wife Barbara cleared leaves while Boy Scouts from and Laurel Elementary Schools, Pack 565, Den 4, washed and waxed the play structure which has been out of use for over a year due to the park closure. The park has been fenced in and shut this year to accommodate heavy equipment, trucks and pipes required by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (PUC) pipeline replacement project near Bay Road.

The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors has to the shuttered park which was slated to be closed indefinitely due to San Mateo County’s budget woes after the pipeline repairs are complete. San Mateo County Supervisors reversed course this summer and announced a six month temporary reopening of Flood Park (by the end of this year) while they examine their long-term plan for all county parks and the City of Menlo Park’s Department of examines the viability of Menlo Park taking over ownership of Flood Park.

The temporary reopening of Flood Park is a victory for neighbors of the park! The new organization, Friends of Flood Park, grew out of a grass root effort by the park’s neighbors and fans to see that Flood Park remains open for local families beyond the current six month reprieve provided by the county.

(For more information on this temporary reopening, please contact Gray Lockman, Chief Superintendent San Mateo County Parks at 650-363-1881). Friends of Flood Park’s mission is to generate funding and support for projects and programs that enhance enjoyment of the Flood Park and to protect the park from the governmental budget woes that are spreading through California and effecting our kids both at school and at play. For more information on Friends of Flood Park, email them at info@friendsofflood.org.