The Pleasanton City Council has unanimously approved a proposal to rename the Main Street Green Park as Rotary Park along with a two-phase renovation of the 0.75 acre property to feature a semi-circular plaza with a traditional street clock as its centerpiece.
Mayor Jerry Thorne and council members expressed strong support for the name change and park renovation at their regular July 15 meeting. The newly designated Rotary Park is at the corner of Main Street and Vervais Avenue at the northern entrance to downtown Pleasanton.
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The $420,000 project will be completed in two phases. The first phase will focus on the semi-circular plaza on the west end of the property. A $25,000 clock tower, donated to the city by the Rotary Club of Pleasanton, the Rotary Club of Pleasanton North, and Tri-Valley Evening Rotary, will feature an illuminated clock face and Rotary International machine gear logo. The 12-foot clock tower will be set on a granite base with attached metal plaques commemorating Rotary’s five decades of community service to Pleasanton.
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Phase-one construction will aim at completion before May 1, 2015. The park will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the original charter award for Rotary Club of Pleasanton. Rotary Club of Pleasanton North, chartered in 1987, and Tri-Valley Evening Rotary, chartered in 2002, will also be recognized during a gala dinner on May 8. Historical exhibits by the Museum on Main, Pleasanton City Hall and the Pleasanton Library will encourage Rotary membership growth.
The first phase, as laid out in a schematic park design by Keller Mitchell and Company, includes plaza lighting, a semi-circular shade trellis above game tables and chairs adjacent to the plaza, space for public art, drought-resistant grass, trees, paths, and access to the nearby Arroyo Del Valle Trail.
The council will separately consider funding for stage-two renovations in 2015. Plans call for two bocce ball courts, a group picnic area, drought-resistant garden demonstration project, and an 11-car parking lot on the east end of the property. City planners are also considering a possible twin semi-circular plaza on the west side of Main Street to create a formal street entrance to the downtown business district.
Several council members said that an impassioned presentation at the meeting by long-time Rotary of Pleasanton member Bob Silva led them to support a name change to Rotary Park. City staff had proposed Rotary Plaza and Rotary Park on Main as alternative designations. Larry Annis, Nancy Harrington, Brad Hirst, and Bob Shapiro also spoke on behalf Rotary of Pleasanton. Pleasanton North Rotary past-presidents, Frank Hanna and Herb Ritter, also spoke in favor of the park project.
