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Renderings show what the new nature space behind the Atherton Library might look like when completed. Courtesy town of Atherton. 
Renderings show what the new nature space behind the Atherton Library might look like when completed. Courtesy town of Atherton. 
Renderings show what the new nature space behind the Atherton Library might look like when completed. Courtesy town of Atherton.
The Atherton Library will soon feature a new nature play space and children’s garden. At its meeting on Feb. 19, the Atherton City Council reviewed plans for the new play area, and gave town staff enthusiastic feedback.
A presentation from town Public Works Director Robert Ovadia showed that the new nature space will be located behind the new Atherton Library, and will feature several nature-based play structures, including a small willow hut, a “treehouse,” a tunnel of branches, boulders, stumps, benches, pathways and more. Ovadia said that the concept for the area is to encourage exploration.
“It’s a nature space; it’s filled with natural components, and not a playground,” he said. “It doesn’t have swings, doesn’t have monkey bars, doesn’t have things like that in it.”
Many of the features will be built using recycled materials gathered throughout Atherton. The tunnel will be made out of recycled oak branches that have been gathered by the town arborist, and the town has collected various wood stumps for use in the new nature space.
The plans presented by Ovadia also emphasize the accessibility of the space; much of the play area will be wheelchair accessible, and the redesign of the space involves creating new ramps throughout the backside of the library.
At the meeting, several residents questioned whether the town should be spending money on a new nature space, as the town is already spending money to revamp the playground at Holbrook-Palmer park. Council member Rick DeGolia responded, saying that the project will be funded using restricted library funds that cannot be used for any purpose other than library improvements.
“Our library is paid for with a special library tax,” said DeGolia. “Those funds go into a dedicated account, and to the extent that there are more taxes from our jurisdiction, Atherton, than there are costs to manage our library … the excess goes into the fund and can be used for any Atherton Library purposes.”
DeGolia said that the town has had a hard time identifying uses for those funds after the town paid off the recent renovations to the library in full, and that the nature garden was identified as a preferred use through community outreach.
The estimated cost for the project is $475,000. Ovadia estimates that construction on the new nature space will begin in July, and that the project will be fully constructed by the end of the year.
