Photo by Monique Schoenfeld, Town Crier
Kira and Anne Hambly, who live near the site of the new park at Edith Avenue and San Antonio Road, stand amid trenches and construction equipment. Work only recently got under way after years of inactivity at the half-acre, city-owned property. The Hamblys are so pleased that work has started, that the family has donated a specimen tree for the park.
Town Crier Staff Writer
Anne Hambly is smiling. After years of watching and months of planning, the vacant lot in her downtown Los Altos neighborhood is beginning to turn into a park.
"It's great to see something happening here," she said, as she stood in a hollow of scooped out earth in the middle of the lot at the corner of West Edith Avenue and San Antonio Road.
In fact, the Hamblys are so pleased, she, her husband, Larry, and their 16-year-old daughter, Kira, have given the city of Los Altos $5,000 for a specimen tree for the city-owned half-acre corner.
Specimen trees are large and chosen to fill specific sites.
The park "has been a long time coming," she said, "and we wanted to show our appreciation to the city for getting the park going."
The Hamblys moved to Los Altos in 1986, and in 1987 the city reviewed its general plan and re-zoned that corner for senior housing.
They've followed the plans for that corner all along, she said, because it's part of their neighborhood.
When the park design was approved last spring, Anne Hambly called Bob Rayl, Los Altos recreation director, and "told him I wanted to do something."
Rayl mentioned a water fountain, benches or a specimen tree.
She talked with her family, and they said, "No, no, no. Go for the tree."
They did.
It will be awhile before the tree is planted, but in the meantime, work is under way.
Grading and mounding will continue as weather permits, said Bruce Bane, Los Altos public works director.
Then the irrigation system, "one of the more expensive parts of the project," goes in, Bane said.
If the weather holds, the site may be pretty well graded by Thanksgiving, he said.
The San Jose-based Lone Star Landscape, Inc. has the contract for the project. This is the company's first project in Los Altos, Bane said.
While work continues during the winter, the city's recreation commission will be coming up with a process for naming the park. The public will be included and their input sought, city officials said.
Cost of the park project is $225,000, Bane said.