The ongoing excavation work at the Duck Pond Park site has become a very familiar view to Waterfront residents…

And a lot of people were asking questions about the disappearing hill at yesterday’s Community Update event. According to the City, the exact future of the former hill is still unknown. It could be reshaped as a smaller mound, or depending on what is discovered during remaining excavation activities, i.e., unstable ground, the entire hill may be flattened. In that case, the park would grow in area by roughly an acre, but the current design (final plans were received by City staff last week) assumes no added space from either a reshaped or flattened hill. That may change of course, as a larger park would mean added value, but also increased cost.

Although the stability of any remaining portions of the largely man-made hill should govern the final layout, in its current form — despite being deforested and greatly excavated — the hill offers a great view of San Pablo Bay over the surrounding homes (thanks to its nominal higher elevation), and if the hill remained as is, so would this great vista location (which would include sight of the future Intermodal Station tower as well)…

The hill’s excavation has unearthed a good amount of concrete rubble — as many residents have noticed and was often mentioned yesterday — but the good news is that the concrete is in fairly good condition (e.g., clean, straight breaks), and could be reused on the site as either functional or decorative items…

Another item that is still not planned for in the latest published design is a pedestrian tie-in with the sidewalk and trail at the eastern edge, which is currently a makeshift dirt path with a relatively steep grade at the bottom…

City staff has acknowledged this oversight and said that a tie-in will be addressed during review of the final plans. No date has been established for plans to come before the Community and Library Services Commission (of which I will be a member) or Planning Commission, however parks have bypassed Planning Commission review in the past, e.g., the arguably failed (up to now) Bayside Park.