When Los Gatos Mayor Randy Attaway and members of the town council kick off the grand reopening ceremonies at Town Plaza Park on Sept. 22, they'll mention the names of many people in the community who helped bring the vision of this renovation to fruition.
The one person who won't be in the audience to hear his name mentioned with the appreciation of the entire community is the former mayor who had the vision in the first place. That's because Pat O'Laughlin is in Italy where he's spending a few months teaching a class on legal issues at various levels of government.
Attaway, who served with O'Laughlin on the council from 1992 to 1996, says O'Laughlin is the one person he truly hoped would be at the festivities. "Pat really was the visionary for the renovation," recalls Attaway, who made the completion of the plaza and the downtown streetscape projects a high priority in his state of the town address not quite a year ago.
It was in 1995 that O'Laughlin formed a blue-ribbon task force to begin considering a master plan for the town plaza. O'Laughlin, stricken by a devastating illness that kept him from running for a second term, was out of office when the town finally approved the plaza master plan in 1997.
A key factor in O'Laughlin's determination to create such a plan was that he feared that without one, the plaza would become cluttered with "things." Already, the bell tower had been located there, and citizens who wanted to incorporate the Lyndon carriage house cupola into a gazebo were eyeing the plaza as a likely destination.
Happily, the cupola has found a home in Oak Meadow Park where ground has just been broken for construction of a bandstand which will incorporate the cupola into its design, and the bell tower will be moved to an appropriate spot.
Now the town plaza is ready to show its shining face to the community, and what a face it is. There's more grass than in the past—even more than was on the drawing board, in fact. That's because about four months ago, council members strolled through the park and decided it needed to be more green, so hardscape was reduced.
Lights will lend a new glow to the area of town most think of as the town square. Street lamps have been added, and the new interactive fountain will be lit as well. Although holiday lights will still add a festive sparkle to trees during the season, they won't stay lit all year. Instead, the park will be lit with uplights shining up through the trees.
A wireless sound system will make the plaza more conducive to events like the Christmas tree lighting.
Pat O'Laughlin will miss the party for the town plaza he envisioned some seven years ago, but lots of people who turned the vision to reality will be on hand. And they certainly have cause to celebrate.
