History
Timeline of Development
1941 |
Study authorized by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to provide flood protection along the Guadalupe River. |
1963 |
Voters in San Jose pass a $12.75 million Santa Clara Valley Water District bond to fund flood protection in the downtown San Jose area. |
1960’s - 1980’s |
During this period, four master plans are developed for the GRP that gradually expand the scope from just urban design elements to park design within a flood-control project. |
1974 - 1975 |
City Council and FAA approve implementation of Airport Approach Zone Land Acquisition Program to remove incompatible land use from Coleman Loop area and to restrict use of acquired property to compatible open space or agriculture. |
1986 |
U.S. Congress authorizes flood protection of the Guadalupe River as part of its Water Resources Development Act. |
September 1987 |
City Council approves Planning Department recommendation that Coleman Loop be reused as a citywide urban park and directs that a master plan process be initiated. |
January 1989 |
City Council establishes the Guadalupe Gardens Task Force to oversee reuse planning of the Coleman Loop area. |
March 1989 |
City Council approves Guadalupe Gardens Task Force recommendation to designate Coleman Loop/Airport Approach Zone as the “Guadalupe Gardens”. |
June 1990 |
Courtyard Garden completed. |
1991 |
General Design Memorandum signed by the U.S. Corps of Engineers, Santa Clara Valley Water District, and City of San Jose becomes the basis for the preparation of final construction plans for the Guadalupe River Project. |
1992 |
Construction begins on the Guadalupe River Park. |
September 1992 |
Taylor Street rock garden completed. |
January 1994 |
Site preparation for Historic Orchard completed. Planting initiated. |
March 1995 |
Site preparation for Heritage Rose Garden completed. Planting initiated. |
August 1995 |
Non-profit Guadalupe River Park & Gardens Corporation formed through merger of the Guadalupe Gardens Corporation and the Friends of the Guadalupe River Park. |
1996 |
Construction of the Guadalupe River Park halted in response to concerns about threatened and endangered species in the project area. |
1997 |
Guadalupe River Flood Control Project Collaborative formed to address environmental concerns. |
1999 |
Construction on the Guadalupe River Park resumes. |
1999 |
Courtyard Garden becomes Recycled Water Demonstration Garden. |
April 2002 |
City Council approves Guadalupe Gardens Master Plan. |
May 2002 |
Non-profit Guadalupe River Park & Gardens Corporation renamed as Friends of Guadalupe River Park & Gardens. |
August 2002 |
FAA approves Guadalupe Gardens Master Plan with minor revisions. Airport and PRNS establish Guadalupe Gardens Technical Committee. |
December 2002 |
City Council approves final Guadalupe River Park Plan |
2004 |
In December 2004, flood protection will be achieved within the Downtown Guadalupe Flood Control Project. |
2005 |
Guadalupe River Park and major infrastructure work in Guadalupe Gardens was completed in Summer 2005. |
Historically important as the
river on which el Pueblo de San José was founded in
1777, the Guadalupe River was neglected for many years.
Our modern city was developed with its back turned to the
river, reminded of its presence only when the river
swelled with winter rains and spilled over its banks.
Many times in the past century the river has flooded
adjacent homes and businesses, causing human suffering
and economic loss. The most recent of these floods
occurred in the winter of 1995 and created an estimated
$6 million in damage.
The first effort to provide flood protection began in
1941 when a study was authorized by the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers. Stopped and started many times over the
next four decades, the flood control plans were finally
linked to the dream for an urban river park in the 1960s.
Today the Guadalupe River Park is being developed by the
City of San Jose and the Redevelopment Agency of the City
of San Jose in cooperation with the flood control efforts
of the Santa Clara Valley Water District and the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers.
Pedestrians
watch rising Guadalupe River flood
waters from
the St. John Street Bridge
in this photo from the
early '50's. |
The area known as Guadalupe Gardens lies south of the San Jose Airport and immediately west
of the river park. Beginning in 1975, over 630 homes were
removed from this 240-acre area because of airport noise
and safety concerns. Funding was provided by the Federal
Aviation Agency. In 1986, Mayor Tom McEnery proposed the
creation of an open space and recreation area within this
airport approach zone. A Citizens Task Force formed in
1990 developed a Master Plan for the land that calls for
extensive gardens that reflect the history of San Jose as
the Garden City, promotes environmentally-sensitive
gardening, and recognizes the need for low density,
passive development.
Woolen Mills Historic
Site
In May 1999, a special team of
archaeologists, coordinated by Caltrans archaeologist
Mark Hylkema, led an excavation of a locally-important
historic site along the Guadalupe River at Taylor Street.
The occasion for doing the excavation at this time was
the construction of the new Taylor Street bridge and a
three-mile extension of the Guadalupe Parkway from
downtown to the airport and Highway 101. The excavation
was timed so as not to interfere with the construction
schedule.
Local historians have always been aware that a
settlement known as the Woolen Mills Chinatown was
located near Taylor Street between 1887 and 1902. The
local Chinese population was burned out of their home on
the site of the present-day Fairmont Hotel in 1887 and
many of the people, mostly single men, moved to this
location by the Guadalupe River where they were employed
at the Woolen Mills.
The archaeological team did months of careful planning
and research, prior to actually working on the site, as a
guide to where they were most likely to find evidence of
the settlement. During the excavation itself, remnants of
building foundations, front porch piers, redwood water
pipes, and streets, confirmed the layout of the town.
Artifacts discovered in the excavation, together with
what can be found in historical records, will tell the
experts much about the life of the residents.
During the excavation, volunteers from the Guadalupe River Park Conservancy had the unique
experience of working with the archaeological staff in
sifting dirt to discover small objects (mostly ceramics,
household utensils, shells and animal bones) and in
carefully sorting these objects for future study and
documentation.
Excavations such as this are tightly controlled to
preserve the context or setting for the artifacts that
are found. Provenience, knowing the exact
location of where an object comes from, is essential to
an archaeologist's work. Without direct associations to
historic events or people, objects from the past have a
limited story to tell.
Additional background
information on this project is also available at www.chcp.org, the web site for the Chinese Historical
& Cultural Project. |