many skills along the way that many of them have found jobs
working full time.” It is this active investment in the people of
the community—the spirit—that has made Pogo Park a model
for urban renewal throughout the state and even the nation,
according to Maher.
Elm Playlot has served, and continues to do so, as a
“model of what is possible to do in a city park,” says Maher.
The organization is continuing the development of the Harbor
8 park as well as the planning and design of the Yellow Brick
Road project. In partnering with the Conservation Fund, the
largest land conservation nonprofit in the country, Pogo Park
has been able to purchase the land adjacent to the Harbor 8 lot
to be developed with the community as was the Elm Playlot.
“Harbor 8 is really going to be like a public square. There will
be a café, laundry mat, bike shop, and housing surrounding
this incredible park,” she describes. “And the two parks will
be connected by our Yellow Brick Road projects, which will
be a 1.7 mile connection so kids and families can walk from
one park to the next.”
As anyone can imagine, this has been a long and difficult
10-year journey for Maher, Pogo Park, and the whole
community. “It has been tough and we have worked
though some complicated things, but the city has just been
wonderful,” she says. “You can’t just build stuff in isolation; it
has to be integrated into the community, which takes a lot of
leg work and that is what we continue to do.”
60 MARKETPLACECONTRACOSTA.COM DECEMBER 2017