Hayward Area Recreation and Park District (HARD) hosts a meeting on Thursday, February 26 at 6:30 p.m. at the Castro Valley Community Center (18988 Lake Chabot Road) to start the process in developing a 24-acre site into a new park for Castro Valley.

Purchased for $5.6 million in 2014 from the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), the property is bounded by Sydney Way, Stanton Avenue, Carlton Avenue and Jennifer Drive, an area that the March 2012 Castro Valley General Plan envisions as a park for northwestern Castro Valley.

“Steep slopes constrain access to the flatter parts of the site that may be suitable for development,” according the General Plan. The site is currently zoned for residential use.

EBMUD purchased the property in the 1950s, and removed 20-25 single-family homes in the 1950s, with the intent to develop a water filtration plant for the City of Hayward, according to a January 8, 2014 article in the Castro Valley Forum.

Thursday’s meeting about the future park site is the public’s first opportunity to develop a vision for this space that has been left unused for over 60 years.

Dennis Waespi, current member of the East Bay Regional Park Board and who served on the HARD Board when the property was purchased from EBMUD, called the 24-acre site “a tremendous acquisition for the Hayward Area Recreation and Park District and the residents of Castro Valley.  The property and views are spectacular.”

The Project for Public Spaces (PPS) notes that “In the 21st Century the best city parks are also multi-use destinations and catalysts for community development.”

Similarly, Waespi envisions a variety uses for the park, a space that is much larger than than typical HARD community park of one or two acres.

“Soccer fields, baseball and softball fields, hiking trails, bocce courts, tennis courts, cricket fields, Frisbee golf, wildlife gardens, spiritual gardens, picnic areas, outdoor gymnasiums, splash pad, community gardens,” Waespi said. “The possibilities are endless, challenging and a great opportunity for the community to come together and create a spectacular place to recreate.”

To ensure that competing ideas for public spaces are heard, PPS advocates for a concept called “placemaking” in developing public spaces, an approach that:

involves looking at, listening to, and asking questions of the people who live, work, and play in a particular space, to discover their needs and aspirations. This information is then used to create a common vision for that place. The vision can evolve quickly into an implementation strategy, beginning with small-scale, do-able improvements that can immediately bring benefits to public spaces and the people who use them

It its “Eleven Principles for Creating Great Community Places,” PPS identifies the community (i.e. Castro Valley) as the expert in creating new community spaces.

With this in mind, what is your vision for our new park? How would like to the space to look? What type of activities would you like to see there? How can this park become a vital part of Castro Valley?

You are the expert — share your thoughts below in the comments, or on Facebook and Twitter with hashtag #CVPark.