Thorny Decision
STEPPING UP IS NEVER EASY, BUT WE DID IT
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ore than two years ago, the city of Sacramento embarked on a major construction project at McKinley Park—an underground water vault to pull excess water from storm drains during heavy rains. The goal was to prevent the recurrence of floods in the neighborhood. This month the city moves to the final step—renovation of the eastern part of the park between the McKinley Rose Garden and tennis courts. Renovations include new turf, trees and picnic areas. A heater for Clunie Pool will create a year-round aquatic center. I lived across the street for about 90 percent of the construction. It was exhausting. The nonprofit Friends of East Sacramento—founded by Lisa
CH By Cecily Hastings Publisher’s Desk
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Schmidt and me in 2010—manages the Clunie Community Center and rose garden, adjacent to the vault construction. The impacts on the center and garden were significant. After the recession, the Clunie Community Center and McKinley Rose Garden were in dire straits. The city was completing an upgrade to the garden’s irrigation system and walkways. Sadly, the budget didn’t include funds to replace 600 rose bushes that perished due to lack of care and water. The garden is home to 1,200 bushes—largest in the region. The mission of Friends of East Sacramento was to raise funds for improvement projects in the neighborhood and McKinley Park. With no options but closure, the city asked our nonprofit to manage the garden and restoration. The city also asked us to run Clunie Community Center, which needed restoration. At the time, Lisa and I were tired of divisive neighborhood disputes and disagreements. There were many, including the Mercy General Hospital expansion. We thought the McKinley Park project might be a way to pull the neighborhood together around something positive.
We had to raise a lot of money to bring the center and garden into shape and make them suitable to lease out and generate revenue to support the nonprofit. The first step was the rose garden. We raised $150,000 from a private donor and completed the restoration. We planted eight large perennial flowerbeds and attractive Englishstyle boxwood hedges. We funded the installation of a wrought iron pergola
and bench, and renovated 26 park benches. We assumed responsibility for the expense and care within the garden—including the grass, hedges, flowers and boxwoods. The roses were another story. We developed a volunteer training program
