San Juan Bautista gained two neighborhood parks on Oct. 15 as city officials and residents gathered for brief dedication ceremonies that honored many years of behind-the-scenes work by the Rotary Club of San Juan Bautista, the city and local volunteers. With the complete re-landscaping of the traffic island at Franklin Circle and the addition of a public restroom at Verutti Park, replacing portable toilets, the parks are now open for families to enjoy.
“Both parks were in limbo in 2019 when I was hired, and they needed a kick start,” said City Manager Don Reynolds. “We combined Prop 68 and local impact funds for about $210,000 for Franklin Circle and another $265,000 to put in the restrooms at Verutti Park to complete the work that the Rotarians had started there. Everything looks just like the Planning Commission approved it, and we have had no complaints.”
Proposition 68 is a bond measure passed by voters in 2018 which provides funds for state and local parks, infrastructure repairs, environmental projects and restoration work.
The event began at the new Franklin Circle Park, which began as a dream held by the neighborhood residents when it was first proposed in 1965. What had previously been a sparsely planted traffic island has been transformed into a park by adding a bocce ball court, picnic tables with inlaid chess boards, a community herb garden, a succulent garden, benches and magnolia trees.
“They did an incredible job,” said resident Beverley Meamber. “Looking at it, it is hard even to remember what was here before. There was some concern at the beginning, but it turned out nicely and is an excellent addition to the neighborhood.”
Speaking after the dedication, Brian Farney remembered his mother, Glenny, and her drive to create the park.
“She wanted to get something in here since we moved here in 1966,” he said. “I look at it now, and it is just beautiful. It is much more than she expected—she just wanted something nicer, and I am sure she is looking down on this now and smiling. She loved her succulents, and we still have some of hers, which we will be planting there so she can be part of the park, too.”
The group then moved to Verutti Park, named for Lauren Verutti, who died at the age of three in 1990. The park, located on Second Street, was donated by Graniterock in 1991 and saw major improvements done by the Rotary Club and local volunteers in 2014.
“It started with a young woman named Sonora Vasquez,” said Vice Mayor and Rotary member Cesar Flores. “When she joined the Rotary, she proposed the park, and we took it on. She was a mover, and she pushed everybody to get involved, so we came out here and shoveled dirt for her.”
The addition of the restroom completes the work on the park. The two-unit facility is designed with a Mission theme and has self-locking doors programmed to unlock during the park’s operating hours.
Reynolds says it may be a while before new parks are created in San Juan Bautista, partly because of a lack of funding.
“We can’t use any more Prop 68 money because it is allotted on a per capita parks-per-square-foot basis, and the State Park takes up 10 acres in the downtown area. We have five acres on Lang Street and Washington, and we have had some community response. But we don’t have the money yet to do anything there.”
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