{"id":425546,"date":"2026-08-06T16:32:29","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T16:32:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/425546\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T16:32:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T16:32:29","slug":"meet-the-activists-who-fought-for-decades-for-new-berkeley-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/425546\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the activists who fought for decades for new Berkeley park"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"An excavator removes contaminated soil from one of the blocks between Ward and Blake streets in Southwest Berkeley where a new park is being built on a former Santa Fe Railroad right-of-way. Courtesy: City of Berkeley<\/p>\n

For half a century, a four-block stretch of former rail line through Southwest Berkeley has been fenced off and neglected \u2014 weedy, overgrown and mostly unused due to the soil that\u2019s laced with heavy metals like arsenic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, city crews are remediating the quarter-mile portion of the old railbed between Ward and Blake streets, hauling away toxic soil and preparing the land to be turned into community gardens, a playground and a new dog park<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When the $9 million project is completed next summer, it will be a major victory for the generations of neighbors, students, environmentalists and garden advocates who have tried<\/a> for decades<\/a> to transform this forlorn patch of earth into a vibrant community green space.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Beebo Turman, 82, who has lobbied for park and garden space there since the mid-1990s, said she\u2019s \u201cecstatic [that] it\u2019s finally happening.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

After Berkeley acquired the old Santa Fe Railroad right-of-way in 1977 (through a $500,000 bond measure), Turman watched as the city began developing pieces of the land into Strawberry Creek Park and Cedar Rose Park and as it granted permits for Berkeley Youth Alternatives and Spiral Gardens to set up community gardens to combat food insecurity and give kids access to the outdoors.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/Remediation work is expected to be completed by the end of September and the new park to open next summer. Credit: Daniel Ekonde\/Berkeleyside<\/p>\n

In 1995, Turman helped Alice Waters open the first Edible Schoolyard<\/a> at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School<\/a>. \u201cI saw how much it made a difference in the lives of the students, and [I] wanted to start school gardens and community gardens,\u201d said Turman, a former kindergarten and third grade teacher who was the parent of a King student at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That same year, Turman cofounded the Berkeley Community Gardening Collaborative (BCGC) with landscape architect Karl Linn, and the stretch of<\/a> the Santa Fe right-of-way between Ward and Blake streets quickly became a top priority for the group.<\/p>\n

BCGC began organizing<\/a> neighbors to engage city officials on a soil removal plan, and brought in the nonprofit Rails to Trails Conservancy, which turns unused train tracks into public parks for walking and biking.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over the years, many more would join the cause \u2014 activists of all ages working with groups like Berkeley Partners for Parks, the Ecology Center, the Earth Island Institute Restoration Initiative, and the Berkeley Climate Action Coalition Land Use Working Group.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the 2000s, Turman recalled meetings held between then-Mayor Tom Bates, a few other council members and 10-15 activists. \u201cBates was very excited about the project, but didn\u2019t get much done,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The main challenge was the cost of toxic cleanup. The Santa Fe rail company used arsenic and heavy metals<\/a> to clear weeds along the railbed. Turman said BCGC wanted to remove the top 10 inches of the soil to remedy the situation, but it couldn\u2019t afford the millions that would cost.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Other portions of the 3.1-mile stretch of Santa Fe railbed didn\u2019t face quite the same challenges. Daniel Miller, executive director of Spiral Gardens, said the stretch where his garden is located wasn\u2019t contaminated and didn\u2019t need soil remediation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A number of creative solutions have been proposed for scrubbing toxins from the soil over the years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the early 2000s, Turman collaborated with a UC Berkeley professor to plant Pteris Vittata, a Chinese brake fern, on the lots, with the goal of sucking up arsenic from the soil. The fern did indeed sip up arsenic, but too slowly to be practical.<\/p>\n

After Turman retired in 2015, BCGC launched a project, called Moving South Berkeley Forward,<\/a> in which high school students of color were recruited to collect soil samples<\/a> from the blocks between Ward and Blake streets and were mentored by UC Berkeley students. The goal was both to measure contamination levels and poll neighbors about what they wanted to see done with the land. Knocking on around 150 doors in South Berkeley, the students found 95% strongly wished to see the land turned into green space.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/Daniel Miller, executive director of Spiral Gardens, and Corinne Haskins, coordinator of the Berkeley Community Gardening Collaborative, in Spiral Gardens on July 31. They are among the many local activists who long fought to turn a stretch of the Santa Fe right-of-way in Southwest Berkeley into parkland. Credit: Daniel Ekonde\/Berkeleyside<\/p>\n

Daniel Perez, one of the Moving South Berkeley Forward volunteers, recalled how members of the group wrote letters to local officials \u201cemphasizing the importance of green space and community gardens in South Berkeley, an area that has historically lacked these resources compared to other parts of the city.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to make sure that the community didn\u2019t forget and [that we] would continue to advocate for the development of the space,\u201d said Corinne Haskins, who replaced Thurman as BCGC coordinator.<\/p>\n

Around 2016, Haskins said, the city committed that the land \u201cwould not be sold for development, but it would be used as a green space.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the big breakthrough came in 2021, when the state awarded Berkeley a $5 million grant<\/a> toward developing the land into a park.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very excited that we got that funding,\u201d said Perez..<\/p>\n

The state grant comes out of Proposition 68, the parks and water bond California voters approved in 2018. The city is contributing about $4.3 million to the project, parks director Scott Ferris said, from Measure T1<\/a> and the city\u2019s parks tax<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ferris said the city is removing 2 to 6 feet of soil in some areas of the four lots as the level of arsenic varies. \u201cStarting in 2022, we tested soil throughout the site to determine where contamination was located and how deep it went,\u201d Ferris said. He said remediation work should be almost entirely finished by the end of September.<\/p>\n

San Jose-based QLM-Inc has been awarded the contract to build the park and gardens, and work will begin in late fall, according to Ferris. Hundreds of community members and many local groups gave input on how the lots should be built out, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Martin Bourque, executive director of the Ecology Center, said he is \u201cthrilled\u201d the city is \u201cfinally moving forward\u201d with the project and that the work of many community members \u201cover many, many years is finally coming to fruition.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"\/The land soon to become a park on July 5. Credit: Daniel Ekonde\/Berkeleyside<\/p>\n

\u201cThis project represents more than just a new park,\u201d Perez said. \u201cIt is a space where community members, particularly people of color, will have increased access to health-supporting resources and stands as a symbol of collective effort toward a healthier and more equitable future.\u201d<\/p>\n

A management structure for the new park has yet to be decided, but Turman has a wish for what comes next.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The park needs to be led, she said, by \u201csomebody who, like me, is really committed, because it takes a long time and it takes getting people together and making meetings so that they understand how to do it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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