ISJnewsletter_Spring2010
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The Happy Hollow Park & Zoo in San Jose underwent a $72 million renovation between 2008-2010 to upgrade infrastructure, create more sustainable buildings, and improve the visitor experience. The renovations added nine new buildings including animal exhibits, education facilities, and a restaurant. The park also added new play areas and rides, grew its animal population, and aims to receive LEED green building certification. The reopening in March 2010 featured an expanded, more eco-friendly park for families to enjoy.
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ISJnewsletter_Spring2010
- 1. The Mission of the City of San Jos辿 is to provide quality public services, facilities and opportunities that create, sustain and enhance a safe, livable and vibrant community for its diverse residents, businesses and visitors. INSIDE SPRING 2010 S A N J O S EA CITY OF SAN JOSE PUBLICATION www.sanjoseca.gov VOLUME15 UPCOMING EVENTS 22nd Annual Childrens Faire Discovery Meadow Park April 24 Downtown Farmers Market Every Friday May 7 December 17 2010 Amgen Tour of California Downtown San Jos辿 May 19 Like a caterpillar turning into a butter鍖y, Happy Hollow Park & Zoo (HHPZ) has undergone a complete metamorphosis. Since July 9, 2008, staff at HHPZ was busy restoring the facility so families may have a newer and greener experience when it reopened on March 20. The $72 million, voter-approved bond used to make improve- ments to the Park & Zoo focused on creat- ing green architecture,while maintaining the charm that has drawn in visitors for almost 50 years. The reasoning behind the renovation was to upgrade the infrastructure, bring Happy Hollow into the 21st century and update this incredible gem for all the Bay Areas families, said Marketing Manager Vanessa Rogier.We are all stewards of the earth and part of our mission at the Park & Zoo is to promote conversation and education. The facility features nine new buildings, including several animal exhibits, veterinary and commissary buildings, education center, guest services gift shop,restaurant,and family restrooms.A new parking lot and pedestrian bridge are currently under construction and will be ready in September 2010. Most of the renovations are not only geared towards the conservation of animals, but toward stewardship of the earth, according to Rogier. Some of the green elements at Park & Zoo include a sustainable stormwa- ter management system and structures made using hay-bale construction methods. In addition, 79,000 plants were added to the grounds.All of these green efforts are sure to earn the Park & Zoo a U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in Energy & Environ- mental Design (LEED) certi鍖cation. Continued on page 2 Grand Re-Opening OF HAPPY HOLLOW PARK & ZOO Happy Hollows Signature Black & White Ruffed Lemur INSIDE THIS ISSUE 2 San Jos辿 Public Library Captures 4-star Rating 3 City Receives Federal Grants for Solar Projects 4 Airport Passes Annual FAA Safety Inspection 5 San Jos辿 Public Library Introduces Inclusive Story Times 7 San Jos辿 Ranks First in Nation for Teaching Bike Safety to Kids 8 Governor Schwarzenegger Speaks in San Jos辿 In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, City of San Jos辿 materials can be made available upon re- quest in alternative formats such as Braille, large print, audio and computer disk. Requests may be made by calling (408) 535-8100(v) or (408) 294-9337 (TTY). Printedonrecycledpaperwithsoy-basedinks03/102200 Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell visited the Citys Water Pollution Control Plant on February 3, as part of an effort to high- light the many infrastructure improvements needed in America. The two governors joined San Jos辿 Mayor Chuck Reed at to discuss increasing infrastructure investment to create jobs and rebuild the economy. Americas future economic growth depends on infrastructure investment, and now is the time to invest, said Governor Schwarzenegger (CA). Our nations pressing infrastructure needs go beyond transportation - from drinking and waste water systems to smart grid and broadband. In- vesting in all of these areas can create jobs for hardworkingAmericans right when we need them the most, improve our quality of life and support our environment - all while investing in our na- tions future economic growth. Schwarzenegger and Rendell, along with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, are co-founders of Build- ing Americas Future, which is drawing attention to the aging infrastructure in Americas cities and states. Much of the countrys infrastructure was constructed during WorldWar II and the decades immediately following,and is now more than 50 years old. The San Jos辿/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plant is one of the nations largest and most advanced waste- water treatment facilities.The Plant serves more than 1.4 million residents and 17,000 business connections in San Jos辿 and seven other nearby cities. While $250 million in critical projects are already under- way within the next 鍖ve years, an estimated $1.5 billion is needed to address all of the Plants aging infrastructure needs making it the second biggest capital project in San Jos辿s history behind the Airport expansion.The City is developing a master plan to achieve the needed improve- ments and guide Plant operations and land uses for the next 30 years (www.sanjoseca.gov/esd/plantmasterplan). The Plant occupies about 2,600 acres in Alviso.Given the Plants size and location adjacent to the South San Fran- cisco Bay and signi鍖cant transportation corridors,a blend of economic, social, and environmental land uses will be a signi鍖cant component of the master plan. Operated by the City of San Jos辿,the Plant was originally constructed in 1956 and has expanded over the years to a treatment capacity of 167 million gallons of wastewater per day. Currently, the Plant treats about 110 million gal- lons of wastewater a day that drains from sinks, showers, toilets,washing machines,and 鍖oor drains,and distributes about 11 million gallons of recycled water per day for irrigation and industrial uses. CITY NEWS Governor Schwarzenegger TA L K S I N F R A S T RU C T U R E I N S A N J O S E
- 2. INSIDE SAN JOSE Other additions include several play areas.The new play areas immerse visitors in the wildlife experience learn to leap like a lemur at the Lemur Woods Exhibit, climb like a billy goat at the Double-H Ranch, and be a park rang- er for the day at the Redwood Lookout. Rides are also positioned near the play areas. Some rides, such as Danny the Dragon, are old favorites that have been enjoyed for years; while other rides, like the Keep-Around Carousel, are new to everyone. The Keep-Around Carousel is a one-of-a-kind carousel that displays various endangered and extinct animals, reminding visitors the importance of conservation. The animal family at the Park & Zoo has also grown.Visi- tors may still greet Sophia the jaguar and signature Black & White Ruffed Lemurs, as well as welcome the new Squirrel Monkeys, Javelinas, and Red Ruffed Lemurs. For information on admission and memberships to Happy Hollow Park & Zoo, visit www.hhpz.org. To watch the Inside San Jos辿 video about Happy Hol- low Park & Zoo (Episode 5),visit www.sanjoseca.gov and look for the CivicCenter Television. Grand Re-Opening OF HAPPY HOLLOW PARK & ZOO continued from page 1 Sophia, the jaguar CITY NEWS INSIDE SAN JOSE www.sanjoseca.gov San Jos辿 ranks 鍖rst in the nation for providing bicycle education to children, according to a recent survey of the 50 largest U.S.cities. The Alliance for Biking andWalking reported in their Bicycling &Walking in the U.S. 2010 Benchmarking Report that one in eight San Jos辿 youth receive bike safety education. The Citys Street Smarts School Safety Education Pro- gram,run by San Jos辿sTransportation Department,reaches more than 23,000 elementary and middle school students annually with bicycle and pedestrian safety assemblies, helmet events and bike roadeos. San Jos辿 is striving to become a world-class bicycling community where bicycling is safe, convenient and commonplace, and the more we can encourage people to use their bikes for trans- portation, the more we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and congestion, explained Hans Larsen, the CitysTransportation Director. Teaching kids bike safety and the proper way to wear a helmet builds a foundation of safety for our community as we head in this direction, stated Larsen. San Jos辿s bicycling rate tripled in the last two years, from 0.4% of commute trips in 2006, to 1.2% in 2008, accord- ing to the U.S. Census American Community Survey. This survey also found that San Jos辿 has the second high- est bicycling rate among the ten largest U.S. cities. In a survey of the 50 largest cities, San Jos辿 ranks in the top 10 nationally for bicycle advocacy. San Jos辿 is making great strides to become one of the best bicycling cities in the country, according to Corinne Winter,Executive Director of SiliconValley Bicycle Coali- tion. A great example: San Jos辿 is the 鍖rst city to receive a platinum-level Bicycle Friendly Workplace award from the SiliconValley Bicycle Coalition, stated Winter. Future plans to support bicycling in San Jos辿 include com- pleting 20 bikeway projects and installing 300 bike racks in 2010,and San Jos辿,together with theValleyTransportation Agency (VTA),will launch the Bay Areas 鍖rst public Bike Share System, also in 2010. This year, a pilot public bike share program will allow bikes to be checked out at San Jos辿 Diridon Transit Station and downtown locations. Ive seen the City make great progress in creating a bike- friendly community. San Jos辿s new Bike Plan 2020 sets some great goals, including completion of a 500-mile bikeway network, stated Jim Bell, Chair of San Jos辿s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee. Every year Ive personally seen the bike network expanding - new trails, roadway bike lanes & signage - making it safer and more convenient for myself, my family and visitors to get to around by bike. The recently adopted Bike Plan sets goals to: Complete a 500-mile bikeway network;add 5,000 bike parking spaces; reduce the bike collision rate by 50 percent; achieve a mode shift such that 5 percent of all trips are by bike; and achieve a designation from the League of American Bicy- clists as a gold-level Bike Friendly Community (San Jos辿 is currently a bronze-level Bike Friendly Community). For information about how kids and adults can be bike smart, visit the City of San Jos辿 Street Smarts Program website at: www.GetStreetSmarts.org. San Jos辿 Ranks First in Nation F O R T E A C H I N G B I K E S A F E T Y T O K I D S CITY NEWS www.sanjoseca.gov Public libraries throughout the U.S. are now compet- ing to be stars, much the same way that restaurants vie for Michelin ratings. And for the second time since the new evaluation system was inaugurated by the nation- al Library Journal in 2008, San Jos辿 Public Library has earned a prestigious four-star rating making it one of the best among 7,268 libraries in the country. The scores are calculated on statistics that show how much a community uses and values its local library, according to Jane Light, Director of San Jos辿 Public Library. The rating shows that our library compares favorably to other public libraries of our size throughout the U.S., she said. We want to be among the best in the country and this is a great tool to help us gauge how we are doing. The rating system looks at per capita circulation, visits, program attendance, and use of public Internet terminals in the library. By each metric, San Jos辿 Public Library is near the top of similar-sized libraries in the country. Our residents are avid library users, said Jane Light. We have had high circulation and visitor counts for some time and now that we have new libraries with additional program space and com- puters, those numbers are going up, too. In the past few years, San Jos辿 Public Library has built four new and 11 expanded branch libraries, funded by a $212 million bond approved by voters in 2000.Two addi- tional new branches and four expansions are underway or in the planning stage to complete the bond-funded projects. Last year, more than eight million visitors came into the systems libraries, and checked out 15.3 million items. More than 340,000 attended libraries programs and 2.3 million made use of the librarys high speed Internet terminals. We built it and they do come, Light said with pride. We could never have achieved these numbers with the old library buildings. They were too small and outdated. Libraries everywhere are well used,and the statistics show that San Jos辿 Public Library is in tune with what the community wants. We are thriving. San Jos辿 Public Library Captures 4-star Rating MAKING IT ONE OF THE BEST I N T H E N AT I O N