Council contemplates Bijou Park’s future
AJ will climb over the obstacle, but not run through the tube. Photos/Kathryn Reed
By Kathryn Reed
When Bijou Community Park was formed in 1992 all the potential future amenities could not be imagined.
A disc golf has been added. The dog park came in 2008. A roller derby league uses it as its home rink. The most recent addition was a dog agility course last year. However, only one long tube structure is there now.
It’s a well-used park – especially now that parking is allowed in the winter.
On Monday, people were at the dog park, others were using the playground structures, several people were tossing discs, and even more were walking. The meadow is an ideal spot for walking. It’s wide-open, flat and has stunning views of iconic peaks like Freel and Jobs Sister. And tire marks prove it’s also popular with mountain bikers.
But more than 20 years since the park opened the city of South Lake Tahoe still does not have a policy in place for deciding how the park can be used. But that soon could change.
The city’s parks and recreation commissioners are working on a policy so entities that want to add to the park will have an easy process to do so. The commission brought a policy to the council this month that council members said needed some tweaking.
Disc golf at Bijou is popular year-round.
The council, though, is in a bit of a quandary because it doesn’t want to create policy that would conflict with the recreation master plan that is in the works with El Dorado and Douglas counties.
Council members JoAnn Conner and Angela Swanson were tasked with helping the commission iron out wrinkles. It’s possible the topic will be before the council again in March.
As the commission has been looking at creating policy it discovered the master plan for the park is so old it does not exist in an electronic version.
But there is urgency for creating a policy because people have ideas they want approved.
TAMBA and the South Lake Tahoe BMX Association have been in talks with South Lake Tahoe officials about building a 4-acre bike park in Bijou Community Park since 2011.
Lake Tahoe Sustainability Collaborative wants to turn a 30-foot-by-80-foot plot of land in the park into a community food garden.
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Park amenities:
• Golf course
• Disc golf
• Basketball court
• Fenced dog park; separated areas for small and large dogs
• Fitness course
• Historic railroad exhibit
• Open meadow for walking
• Skateboard park
• Two covered gazebos with barbecue pits
• Volleyball courts.
The Park, weather permitting, would be an excellent site to honor our Olympic champions. Maybe later some kind of plaque or marker could be permamently added?
If a city hall is ever built in the vicinity, should be a great place for city employees to be at before, and after work, also lunch.
I love the idea of adding more to Bijou Park. The community garden sounds great, as does adding a bike park for mountain bikes and South Tahoe BMX. I trust that Angela Swanson will do what is best for the community. =)
Interesting thoughts here. I like the idea of a community garden. City Hall there is intriguing. A bike park is wonderful too. And hey, don’t forget about putting artwork in! :)
I like the Olymipian Idea, but maybe putting it somewhere where our visitors can see it, Like by the childrens memorial or linear park.
Along with a community garden, there should also be a compost site nearby to demonstrate the benefits of composting. They sorta go hand in hand.