BC Rec moves forward in grant race

Boulder Creek Recreation and Parks District is doing all it can to win a $5 million grant that would launch the building of a new recreation headquarters in downtown Boulder Creek.
Nearly 30 people attended a meeting Saturday, Jan. 30, to talk about a future meeting place and recreation center.
“It was a good turnout — people were really energetic,” district manager Christina Horvat said.
Meetings like Saturday’s earn the district “points” toward winning the $5 million, a grant from Proposition 84 that California voters passed in 2006. Of the $5.4 billion bond, $368 million is available for parks in the state — half this year and half two years from now.
The grant application is due by March 1.
John Courtney, the principal of RJM Design Group of Sacramento, gave a digital presentation at the Saturday meeting at the Boulder Creek Rec Hall.
“I was stunned, to be perfectly honest, with the overwhelming amount of involvement,” Courtney said. “There were more people at the workshop than at any other I’ve done (for the Proposition 84 grant).”
Courtney, whose company will write the grant application, collected ideas from members of the community and district leaders. He will return next weekend, at 10 a.m. Feb. 13, for a second workshop to consolidate the ideas and work to finalize the grant proposal.
Ideas include a gymnasium with basketball hoops, a meeting room, classrooms, offices and other amenities in a facility that could be 20,000 square feet. The district has signed a letter of intent with property owner John Scopazzi to buy four adjacent parcels on South Street and Highway 9, at the south end of Boulder Creek.
Even if the district does not win the grant, leaders hope to move forward with the new headquarters, although it would require creative financing or a ballot measure to raise the needed cash.
The district is also refurbishing Garrahan Park at the north end of town with a grant from California State Parks. Work will start in April on a new picnic area, outdoor exercise equipment and a walking track around the park.