The Park To Nowhere?
Back in August when they voted against accepting State grant money to build the now infamous “Trail to Nowhere,” Fullerton City Councilmen Jung, Whitaker and Dunlap voted to take down the barrier around the fenced-off Union Pacific Park. I thought that was a pretty good idea for a trial run.
But wait! Was there a tacit decision to redesign and reconstruct a new park? Must have been, although there is no funding to do it. Not yet, anyway, although at the last meeting City Manager Eric Leavitt said he was meeting with the State Natural Resources Agency to see if the “greening” grant money that was supposed to go to the trail could be diverted toward building a new park where the old UP Park is located. The proposed park looks a lot like the old one – without toilets or shade structure to accommodate the borrachos.
This would be a political victory for Jung, Dunlap, and Whitaker who have been defending themselves with the argument that the grant funds might be repositioned. But this is really irrelevant if spending the money ends in failure. The trouble with reopening the park, if it happens, is that Fullerton, sadly, would likely only be repeating the failure of the past. And an expensive failure it was. A complete waste of several million dollars back in the early 2000s.
When the original UP Park was built it had no community support. It was the brainchild of the Parks Department Director, Susan Hunt, and funded with Redevelopment and Park Dwelling Fee play money. After it was opened it was found to be contaminated; and after the contamination was cleaned up, the park was soon closed. It seems that it had become infested with drug addicts, homeless, and gang members. And there it has languished for the better part of twenty years.
So what has changed to make this a workable idea now? There are more homeless than ever and Fullerton Tokers Town hasn’t gone anywhere, either. Will anybody be responsible when this new facility follows the trajectory of the old one? Nobody was ever held accountable for the failure of UP Park #1, so that seems pretty unlikely.
This scheme has been drawn up and is going to the Parks Commission tomorrow night, to be rubber stamped and passed to the City Council for their November 21 agenda. There seems to be a big rush to get this going, and I certainly hope someone on the City Council raises the same pertinent questions that they raised when they axed the Trail to Nowhere. Here are some ideas:
- How much is it going to cost to maintain?
- Why has there been little to no maintenance of the adjacent “Phase I” of the trail?
- Who will be responsible for the success/failure of the reopening plan?
- Who, exactly, do they think will be using this facility?
- How will the UP Park be any different this time around?
- What will the neighbors on Truslow Avenue think about reopening the park?
It will also be fun to see how the Zahra Parade will react, especially if the trail money is used. All the same silly arguments and generalities used to support the trail could be used to defend the UP Park reopening: trees, green grass, fresh, air, playground for the ninos, etc. And ironically, just a couple years ago Zahra tried to privatize the park into an events center, proving that he is not the least bit interested in the healthy community script he has bamboozled his followers into reading.
Jesus H. Another never ending Fullerton embarrassment. They just keep going on and on and on.
That property NEVER should have been a park.
Yep, another cross-generational fuck-up.
Pull the damn plug.
Nobody in City Hall sees the joke here? Maybe there’s a plan. Rebuild it, shut it down and rebuild it every 20 years or so.
Pickleball! We want pickleball!
I can’t wait! Used to get some decent mota and $20 blowjobs at the old UP Park.
You overpaid for that durb, bro.’
Actually, there’s evidence to suggest that blowjobs from this park are very likely contaminated with toxic plume. Be sure your service provider wears a properly fitted N95 face mask.
Always follow directions from your physician.
Zahra will be pissed off that other people are getting things done in HIS district. It should be fun to watch him suddenly discover that the whole area needs a new master plan.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s trying to scuttle the transfer of the grant.
The neigbors gonna love them some loud pickleball plunking. Man that sound will drive u nitz.
Hey why not spend the money on expanding the bicycle network with a class 1 trail.
Because that would be fuckin’ irresponsible.
Yes. You too can be part of the 105,000 people on the “network” that goes from nowhere to nowhere!
You mean the half-mile piece that doesn’t connect with anything else? What a good idea.
A half mile class one bike lane that you can’t get to or from? That sounds like bad science fiction.
Yes, only an idiot would support wasting $$ on that.
BTW, if Jung pulls pulls off the grant switcheroo you’ll have egg all over your face, Hoog. You said they were lying.
It was bullshit then. Regardless of what the city achieves it will still have been bullshit when it was uttered. And you will still be a fool for believing it. Or disingenuous for pretending to.
How can it be bullshit if it comes true?
If it happens you you will be the fool. Jung is brilliant at political maneuvering and he’s dancing circles around you, Zahra and the rest of Fullerton BooHoo.
Poor Hoger, once again outflanked.
No Bike Plan for you!
Hoger is the perpetual intellectual underdog. It’s hard to win a gunfight when your gun is loaded with rubber bands.
Stop the inanity, angry elf
Wasn’t a guy stabbed to death there a couple years ago? Seriously?
This place should stay shut down. Not another dollar put into the sinkhole. Let is stand vacant as a permanent monument to “The Education Community” that can’t seem to learn anything.
The murder was committed on the bridge over Harbor – right next to the Park To Nowhere.
Nuke the entire UP Park! Israeli intelligence has evidence that there is a Bushala Command center embedded beneath it.
Genocide Joe is gotta GO!
The Parks Commission? The same body that approved the Trail to Nowhere without batting an eye? Sweet Jesus, we’re screwed.
You can always count on Fullerton’s City Council Clown Show to make Stabba Ana look desirable!
I watched the Parks Commission on this. Not one of them asked how this version was going succeed any better than the last one. All they nattered about was pickleball.
And they all seemed to thin the so-called ad hoc UP committee had actually seen what they were looking at.