Stockton City Council OKs plan for new park at shuttered Van Buskirk Golf Course

The long-shuttered Van Buskirk Golf Course in south Stockton will have new life, but it's still many years away.

In a unanimous vote at last week's Stockton City Council meeting, council members approved a master plan to bring a 192-acre park to the site of the former municipal golf course. The once thriving greens are located between Houston Avenue and the levees of the San Joaquin River and French Camp Slough.

The golf course was shut down in August 2019 after the city's lease with its former operator expired. Much to the dismay of some residents, officials let the lease expire because golfers had found new courses. The decision ended six decades of golf in south Stockton and left the community asking for more recreational activities.

City officials have planned for the site's redevelopment, but several fires have ripped through the property, including a multi-acre grass fire in June. Now, it's seeing a new chance at life.

"This is such a phenomenal opportunity and once it's complete, I think it's going to be one of the marquee parts of the area, if not the region," said Steve Noll, a representative of Design Workshop, the firm hired to design the park.

The master plan comes after several community meetings where Stocktonians had the opportunity to view the proposed design of the park and provide their feedback. A preliminary master plan design was approved by council in January.

The master plan approved Tuesday includes an "adventure playground," an event lawn, a BMX track and bike trail, a community garden, disc golf, a golf academy, a dog park, a skate park, splash pads, basketball and pickleball courts, as well as areas that can serve as potential flood control space. However, Noll said the master plan is an "evolving document" and is meant to be used as a framework plan for staff to secure funding.

"We can update it," Noll said. "There's opportunities if (ideas) come up in the future."

Find the money

District 4 Councilwoman Susan Lenz said she felt the city did a "very, very good job" of getting public input on the design of the park. According to a city report, there were six stakeholder meetings, two online surveys, 110 survey responses, nine staff meetings, and four in-person meetings with the community.

"Most of the people, I have to say, at a couple of meetings in the beginning, they were very happy that it was going to be this multi-use park with different things for children, different things for adults," Lenz said. "I think it's a good plan. I hope we can find the funding to do this."

Vice Mayor Kimberly Warmsley said that she and council lobbied for federal funding during the San Joaquin One Voice trip to Washington D.C. in May. On the same trip, she and Mayor Kevin Lincoln met with the Biden Administration to discuss the project, according to the vice mayor.

"We have worked with our federal lobbyists time and time again. Every single year, we have been to D.C. for this Van Buskirk project," Warmsley said. "I don't want anyone in this audience or anyone who is listening to think this city is not putting this park as a priority. We are knocking, we are begging, we are pleading, we are taking people out for tacos ... we're trying to get this project funded."

While there is no set budget or timeline for the completion of the park, City Manager Harry Black said staff will continue to lobby for money in D.C. and Sacramento, and apply for grants to go toward the project.

"We're not talking about lunch money here. We're talking about something that at the end of the day, could be anywhere from $70 to $90 million if you look at the predevelopment costs, site readiness and preparation," Black said. "We'll put our thinking caps on and figure out what's a good strategy to get this kind of money in a relatively reasonable amount of time, and what I mean by a reasonable amount of time is maybe three to five years in total."

The flood control portion of the project could encourage the federal or state government to invest money into the park, Warmsley said.

$1.5 billion and 160 dead

Experts have sounded the alarm and stated that more flood prevention and mitigation measures are needed to protect south Stockton residents, who have historically been underserved. South Stockton faces severe flooding risks, according to a report released by the San Joaquin Area Flood Control Agency in March. If no action is taken, flooding along the San Joaquin River could cause $1.5 billion in damages and at least 160 deaths per heavy storm in the next 50 years, the report said.

Artie Valencia, flood and land restoration manager for Restore the Delta, said the area surrounding Van Buskirk Park is full of critical facilities like hospitals, schools, fire and police stations, wastewater treatment plants, and Conway Homes — an affordable housing community with 436 single-story family homes and duplexes.

"This area is one of Stockton's largest environmental justice communities. In America, we know that disadvantaged communities do not recover from flood events ... look at Hurricane Sandy and Hurricane Harvey. Both places aren't the same today," Valencia said.

In south Stockton, she said, the water backs up as the water flows south into the San Joaquin River during storms, with "no outlet to provide relief for the levees."

"By now I think it's clear that flood damage is more expensive than flood prevention," she said. "This project has the potential to be a multi-benefit climate initiative that will improve the well-being of Stockton's large environmental justice community ... if it's done correctly."

Record reporter Hannah Workman covers news in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached at hworkman@recordnet.com or on Twitter @byhannahworkman. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.

This article originally appeared on The Record: Council OKs plan for new park at shuttered Van Buskirk Golf Course