Assistant Town Engineer Elmer Benitez gave the Town Council meeting an update on the status of three different park improvements currently underway, after first noting that the Parks Director has departed, so this is outside his normal role.
First: the sports field by Sunnyvale Intermediate School. Sunnyvale Independent School District (SISD) has a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Sunnyvale Town to develop and maintain a new sports field for use by the town’s youth sports teams. The project is paid for by the Town of Sunnyvale and will cost $2 million. It’s scheduled to complete on October 1st 2025.
The field will be multipurpose, with artificial turf that has marking stripes stitched into the turf with different colors so the field can be used for soccer, track, lacrosse, football (unless I misheard that one), and two baseball practice fields. Because so many different sports will be marked and playable on this field, staff recommended that baseball not be marked separately–but they will indicate where on the field baseball teams can put weighted bases when it’s time for practice. Fields will be for all ages to use, but obviously only one sport can be played at a time. Because we are using artificial turf, the maintenance costs on the turf should be very low–and our Assistant Town Engineer Mr. Benitez told the Town Council that modern turf systems have a warranty of up to 20 years. Sunnyvale ISD will be responsible for maintaining the field and scheduling sports practices.
Second, Vineyard Park. During the last Town Council meeting, there was some consternation about an expected 18-month timeline to complete these fields. This was clarified in today’s meeting, and the timeline is much tighter. The geotech survey of the park site will be finalized by mid-August. A consultant has been working on designing drainage improvements, because water is currently flowing to the northeast corner of the park. Mr. Benitez reported he spoke with the park’s neighbor on that corner of the park today, and they have agreed to a plan of action for drainage.
The tentative start date for Vineyard Park’s renovation is September 2025, and proposed completion of the project is January 2026. The cost is $1.9 Million, which includes lighting, drainage, and artificial turf (same material as the new field at Sunnyvale Intermediate School). This renovated field will supports 4 soccer fields sized for older age group plus 3 small soccer fields for younger kids to practice on, and/or 4 baseball fields (by putting one home plate in each corner). The Sunnyvale Parks Department will maintain the fields and manage scheduling of practices.
Third, Jobson park. The design contract was fully executed in April 2025. Pre-design meetings are done, the designer is currently doing survey and geotech analysis, then will work up the detailed plan. The current schedule is to continue planning and design through the Spring of 2026, then starting construction in May 2026, with tentative completion by October 2027. The park will take 18 months to construct because of the utilities they will be adding (including lights and bathrooms), playgrounds, trails, parking, etc.
The park has a planning and design cost of $1.3 million, with a construction cost estimated to range from $7 million for a basic plan to as much as almost $13 million for a more expansive plan. The $7 million design would have 2 baseball fields and natural grass (irrigated). The larger $13 million plan has 3 baseball fields and 2 mixed-use fields (all artificial turf). The designer (Half and Associates) has conducted a number of surveys of town residents to identify additional those additional amenities they could offer in the larger design. If the Town Council approves the more basic design, the final design costs could also fall below the $1.3 million design budget and it could complete a bit faster, but none of the current design proposals are likely to be fully implemented less than 24 months from today.
