Category: General interest

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Tilden Park Carousel Grand Re-Opening

Please join East Bay Regional Park District Board Member Nancy Skinner and the Regional Parks Foundation Board of Directors in celebrating the grand re-opening of the newly refurbished Tilden Carousel on Saturday, October 4, from 10 a.m. ­to 12:30 p.m. This free event is open to the public. Enjoy a free ride, ice cream and cookies.

The Tilden Carousel is re-opening after a six-month closure to restore the outer building structure, install new doors, renovate the carousel floor, and repair the North Tonawanda organ. Funding for this project was provided by voter-approved Measure CC, the Regional Parks Foundation, and a Partners in Preservation grant from American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Each year 150,000 visitors enjoy this 1911 Herscell-Spillman "Menagerie Edition" Carousel, one of only two still operating in the U.S. Since it was relocated from Southern California in 1948, the Tilden Park Carousel has delighted visitors with the opportunity to ride on and view its 59 hand-carved and hand-painted animals. This National Register-listed Carousel has provided generations the chance to live and re-live the joys of childhood.

Note: The Tilden Carousel is open now on weekends (I went there last weekend with my granddaughter), October 4th is just the celebration.
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Celebrate Berkeley Parks at our Fundraiser!

Bring friends and family for an afternoon of camaraderie, food, drink, and music by the Berkeley Old Time String Players at Berkeley Partners for Parks’ annual Fundraiser, 3-5:30 pm Sunday, Sept. 28, at beautiful Halcyon Commons — an abandoned strip transformed into vibrant urban open space.

Dedication of the Halcyon Commons Rejuvenation Project follows. Come see this great example of the kinds of projects Berkeley Partners for Parks makes possible! Meet the people who are creating and revitalizing Berkeley paths, parks, creeksides, even a labyrinth!

Halcyon Commons is on block-long Halcyon Court, between Webster and Prince, one block west of Telegraph. Suggested donation $30; all donations tax deductible to the extent permitted by law.

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Park(ing) Day Friday, Sept. 19

Celebrate Worldwide Park(ing) Day
Friday, Sept. 19, at two Berkeley events:

  • Berkeley Partners for Park and Ecocity Builders transform a parking space on Center Street between Shattuck and Oxford into a mini-park for a day, showcasing our need to pass Measures WW and HH, continuing existing levies that support local and regional parks.
  • Nomad Cafe and neighbors offer music, a kid zone, face painting, plus grass and hay Friday through the weekend at 65th and Shattuck, presenting their vision for what the urban street corner could become (info at http://
    nomadcafe.wordpress .com/2008/ 09/17/parking- day-at-nomad- cafe-this-
    friday-sept- 19/)

    • Stop by and enjoy the “an open-source experiment in
    reprogramming the urban surface” — creating ephemeral urban parks at metered parking spaces. The concept originated with San Francisco-based REBAR, www.rebargroup.org. The idea has gone worldwide and is now co-sponsored with Trust for Public Land.
    For more info and a glimpse of other projects, go to www.parkingday.org.

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    Blackberry Creek Daylighting Project, Berkeley: Ten-Year Post-Project Appraisal

    Stephanie K. Gerson, Jane Wardani, and Shiva Niazi conducted a study of the Blackberry Creek Daylighting Project ten years after completion of the project. The results can be found here:

    http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=7&url=http%3A%2F%2Frepositories.cdlib.org%2Fcgi%2Fviewcontent.cgi%3Farticle%3D1056%26context%3Dwrca&ei=S6ReSIeyGImMsAPDhIT5Cw&usg=AFQjCNE6ffL0Fjo-Ce8eoR6ysCQQwbgvEg&sig2=IF8IExp33SZ58epunXGnHQ

    From the Abstract:

    Blackberry Creek drains a 0.3-square-mile watershed, flowing from the northeastern hills of Berkeley, California into the Marin Creek culvert and then to the San Francisco Bay. A 200-foot reach running under Thousand Oaks Elementary School was daylighted in 1995 by Wolfe Mason Associates in collaboration with the Urban Creeks Council. The goals were to provide an outdoor science lab for the school and an alternative to a culvert with a history of flooding.

    Post-project appraisals conducted in 1996 and 2000 focused on geomorphic and biological aspects, and found sufficient flood control capacity and greater density of riparian vegetation than envisioned in project design. We conducted a PPA ten years after project completion, surveying the longitudinal profile and two
    cross sections of the creek. We also looked at historical rainfall data and identified a 10-year event in 2002. Comparing our data to previous PPAs, channel flood capacity and gradient appear stable although the channel itself may have migrated within the high bankfull. Bank vegetation has become even denser,
    reflecting a lack of maintenance.

    Previous PPAs documented tension relating to perceived use and design among diverse groups such as the School, the Neighborhood Association, and a Tai Chi group that used the park and tot lot. To get a sense of community perception and use ten years post-project, we interviewed the Thousand Oaks science
    teacher, past and current presidents of the Thousand Oaks Neighborhood Association, and the chair of the Urban Creeks Council at the time of daylighting. Today, the school is using the site as a regular science lab and the initial tension seems to have dissipated into general public acceptance.

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    Bird Rescuers’ Get-Together

    Saturday-January 26, 3pm
    Bird Rescuers’ Get-Together
    Celebrate the Bay and join in a thank-you get-together for everyone who helped after the November oil spill. We will see pictures from the spill, celebrate wildlife that was rescued, chat and hear about what others did, remember and reflect on plans to make it better next time. Short bird program/walk follows. Shorebird Park Nature Center, 160 University Ave., Berkeley (south side of University west of Adventure Playground; AC Transit 9). Information: 510- 981-6720.