After Nearly Four Years, a Community Gets Its Park

The process , when a community along the busy stretch of Union Avenue asked for a place for their children to play, a place to be outdoors, a place they could call a home away from home.

The Stojanovich Family Park was planned, designed, redesigned and then built over the course of these last four years. The final groundbreaking began and today, the fruit of their labor was available to enjoy Dec. 1.

"This is such a huge collaboration of many, many people," said Campbell Public Works Engineer Michelle Quinney to the crowd.

There was standing-room only by the time she finished her address.

The 1.3-acre park is built as a neighborhood park, so there is no parking available but there is a drop-off area in the front for maintenance vehicles.

The park is split into three areas:

• Active play in the front where there's a large grass area;
• Moderate play in the center where the playground for small children and the restrooms are located;
• Passive or quiet area at the rear where there are park benches underneath massive Redwood trees.

Anna Stojanovich sold the parcel to the city in 2007 for $1.36 million, less than half of its estimated market value, on the condition that it be built into a park.

The Stojanovichs had owned the lot since 1934, when they grew fruit in surrounding orchards.

Stojanovich was also present at the grand opening ceremony, lent a hand in the ribbon cutting and had a few words for the audience (watch a short video of these words on our Campbell Patch facebook page).

"Thank you everyone and enjoy," she said.

Take a look at the timeline and developments along the way as Campbell Patch covered it.