On Aug. 20, the residents, with the help of San Jose District 3 Councilwoman Cindy Chavez, District 6 Councilman Ken Yeager and San Jose District 4 Councilman Chuck Reed, turned the soil of what will become an almost 2-acre park. The newest park in San Jose will be on Fuller Avenue between Bird Avenue and Prevost Street.

This section of North Willow Glen had long been vacant and used as a dumping ground before the neighborhood and city joined forces to clean things up. The community built a fence around the lots to prevent dumping.

North Willow Glen residents lobbied for more than a decade to turn the area into park. During that time the residents have maintained the day-to-day maintenance of the lots. Now the San Jose City Council has approved $500,000 to transform the area into a park.

The funds were originally promised from the 2004-05 redevelopment operating budget, but were reallocated to the 2005-06 budget. The North Willow Glen Neighborhood Association, however, lobbied Yeager to transfer funding back to the 2004-05 budget year. Association members spoke in favor of the park's funding at the Oct. 13, 2004 city council meeting The request was unanimously approved by the city council as part of the mayor's redevelopment budget proposal.

Sam Garcia was among the residents at the ceremony. The North Willow Glen resident said he thinks the park is something that will enhance the community and its surrounding area.

"It opens the doors to meeting your neighbors," he said. "I take walks with my wife and girls and this park will make it safer and cleaner to walk along Fuller."

Garcia said that this park would give neighbors the opportunity to get to know each other through barbecues and other activities. He also said he likes the fact that the city will make sure the park will be aesthetically pleasing by adding landscaping, seating disguised as boulders and a handsome fence instead of just a chain-linked one.

"That's what I love about the Gardner Community Center," Garcia said. "The new building was built to look like the prior one--it keeps with the neighborhood's style."

The department of parks, recreation and neighborhood services will begin construction on the park in September and expects to complete the project by February. The renovated area will include an irrigation system, improved landscaping, new trees, seating disguised as large rocks, benches and fences, a bocce ball court and horseshoe pits.