The Eastshore State Park will soon have a wonderful new addition to enhance its outdoor splendor: Gilman Ball Fields. The long-awaited construction of the ball fields began last May and is now in full swing, according to project manager Deborah Chernin. The first phase of construction will create two synthetic turf soccer fields, three turf informal playfields, and installed lighting. Gilman Ball Fields is scheduled to open in Spring 2008, at which time there will also be a groundbreaking celebration to which the general public is invited.

Since the ball fields are intended to serve the greater East Bay region, five cities – Albany, Berkeley, El Cerrito, Emeryville, and Richmond – participated in the planning process through a Joint Exercise Powers Agreement; however, the Berkeley City Council was designated as the lead agency since the fields are situated in Berkeley. Though planning had begun in 2002, construction had to wait until funds materialized in the form of three state grants – the Urban Parks Act, the California Youth Soccer and Recreation Facility Grant, and the California Healthy Communities – which together gave $5 million. The next step will be adding amenities, such as a restroom, but the timetable beyond the first phase is at the moment unclear because further construction is still contingent on additional funding.

Gilman Ball Fields will address the current scarcity of sports fields in the East Bay, which has led to overcrowding and less frequency of play for thousands of East Bay athletes. The finished ball fields will not only cater to the many organized sports teams in the East Bay but also provide affordable sports programs for at-risk youths. CESP played an instrumental role in the placement of the ball fields in its current location in Berkeley. At the behest of CESP and other concerned environmental organizations, the East Bay Regional Park District actively acquired what was then an unused 16-acre lot in Berkeley in order to avoid building the fields in the initially proposed site on the Albany Plateau, which would have displaced the nesting areas of the endangered burrowing owl.


Citizens for East Shore Parks
PO Box 6087
Albany, CA 94706
Phone: (510) 524-5000
Fax: (510) 524-5008
eastshorepark@hotmail.com
www.eastshorepark.org