A Fiscally Responsible Approach to Maintaining Park Infrastructure

Foster City boasts 24 parks and over 200 acres of park and open space, which has a value of approximately $93 million.  Foster City has the luxury of being situated on San Francisco Bay Trail, a planned 500-mile walking and cycling path around the entire San Francisco Bay running through all nine Bay Area counties, 47 cities, and across the region’s seven toll bridges.  Foster City has invested in its parks infrastructure which has brought increased property values, enhanced quality of life, and social connection to our community.

The Parks and Recreation Department maintains a schedule of regular infrastructure maintenance related projects.  For example, play structures are scheduled for replacement every 15 years and courts are scheduled for resurfacing approximately every eight years.  This scheduling ensures the infrastructure in which the City has invested is properly maintained to provide for the excellent space the Parks and Recreation Department is committed to providing to this community.

In addition to regularly scheduled maintenance, the Parks and Recreation Department also works to evolve the Park System to reflect the social landscape.  Our parks provide the space where residents create community, finding opportunities to connect.  The Parks and Recreation Department will bring new park elements to the community over the years as landscape is converted to drought tolerant alternatives (as recently completed at Boat Park), play structures are replaced (as recently completed at Catamaran Park), and new recreational trends emerge (as the City plans for tennis courts resurfacing projects to include pickleball). 

Capital Improvement Projects come in many forms, most of which require multiple levels of City Council authorization.  As an example, the City was fortunate to receive community input on a recent project to convert lawn to drought tolerant alternatives and add picnic areas and bocce ball courts in Leo Ryan Park (CIP 655).  The City is excited to have achieved a conceptual design that meets the interests of park users that participate in activities located in this area of the park.

In the midst of the design stages of CIP 655, a new project, located on the same site emerged; the study to build a new Recreation Center will take place in the coming months.  And while the study to build a new Recreation Center and the associated delay in CIP 655, understandably brings disappointment to this invested segment of the community, the City is very excited to undergo a process to possibly add to our legacy and tradition of excellence to build a new Recreation Center which will take our community through the next 50 years.  There will be many opportunities for the public to provide input into the study to build a new Recreation Center.  The Recreation Center belongs to the residents of Foster City, so get ready and plan to participate in this dynamic moment of City history.