San Jose receives federal grant to build new park in Spartan Keyes

San Jose has secured a significant investment from the federal government to help develop a park in the Spartan Keyes neighborhood, providing green space in a historically industrialized and underdeveloped part of the city.

The U.S. Department of the Interior awarded San Jose a $4.5 million grant that the city will use to design and build a 1.3-acre park that has been decades in the making at the corner of Third and Keyes Streets, at a former manufacturing site brickyard.

“I had the privilege of taking a short walk and being able to show the space to Secretary (of the Interior Deb) Haaland and noticed that the closest park in these neighborhoods is a 30-minute walk away and is not accessible to children and elderly residents or families,” he said in Friday Mayor Matt Mahan. “That’s why this investment is so important.”

Established in 2014 and administered by the National Park Service, the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership grant program offers funding to develop new recreational spaces or revitalize existing parks in underserved or disadvantaged communities of 30,000 people or more. or any access to these facilities.

The grant program is also part of the broader America the Beautiful initiative launched by the Biden administration to “address the nature and climate crises, improve equitable access to outdoor recreation, and strengthen the economy.”

Haaland said that while the Trump administration has zeroed out the program, the Biden administration has “doubled down.”

Total park grants this year were nearly $255 million for 54 projects in 24 different states, with awards ranging from $390,000 to $15 million.

While California received 14 of these grants totaling approximately $88 million, Spartan Keyes Park is the only project to receive funding in the Bay Area.

“From Anaheim to Redding, communities across the state will benefit from increased access to beautiful outdoor spaces and more opportunities for outdoor recreation,” Haaland said. “The work taking place here in San Jose and across the state is an incredible example of the kind of collaborative partnerships needed to ensure that Americans in every corner of our country have access to the outdoors.”

Rita Torres, a longtime resident of Spartan Keyes, said she was excited to hear about the development, noting that it had felt like a lifetime since the city acquired the land more than eight years ago, and that she previously wasn’t sure if she would live to see it. see how it happens.

While the exact completion date for the park is unknown because it still needs to be designed, Mahan expects it to be built within a few years.

The grants awarded amounted to a maximum of 50% of the total costs of individual projects. For Spartan Keyes Park, the $4.5 million grant will cover an estimated 45% of what the city needs to make the project a reality.