El Granada playfield re-opens

Since mid-November the El Granada Elementary School has been closed for major renovation. The project involved removing existing turf, leveling the field, repairing the sprinkling system, covering the field with mesh for gopher control and putting new sod on the entire area.  Since the start of work, the playfield has been fenced off. This past Thursday, just past 8am, the fence was opened the children returned to the field.

The renovation project involved strong collaboration between the Cabrillo school district and San Mateo County Parks.  The organizational cooperation and the funding (approximately $100,000) were essential.  The drive to make it happen, came from El Granada resident and parent, Amy Broome.  Amy was the focal point for mobilizing the local contractors, organizing volunteers and monitoring the project from start to finish to insure all details were handled.

Funding came from the "Park Mitigation Fee" established in 2003.  The fee on all new and re-model construction is used for parkland development on the unincorporated Midcoast.  Local residents, working on a committee led by San Mateo Parks director Dave Holland, met in 2007 – 2008 to develop the Midcoast Action Plan to prioritize the use of the fees for local development and improvement projects.  The El Granada field improved was one of the projects in the plan approved by the county supervisors in May, 2008.  Next for the team addressing playfield improvement is the Farallone View Elementary School field.