Yoga, horseshoes, activities for seniors planned for troubled downtown Modesto park

Modesto has secured the rest of the money it needs to upgrade Ralston Tower Park, a trouble-prone spot next to a senior apartment building downtown.

The city learned in late May that it will get a $550,000 state grant to go with an equal amount from a federal source. The project will add fencing, lighting, fitness equipment and more to the 0.4-acre triangle at Downey Avenue and I Street.

The project was designed with input from residents of Ralston Tower, an 11-story senior complex that opened in 1974.

“That means our exercise program could be moved out here, and that would be great,” said Carol Williams, president of the Ralston Tower Tenants Association. She was walking Buddy, her chihuahua-dashshund mix, through the park Tuesday morning.

City officials said the park will remain open after the upgrade to the general public, including homeless people who follow rules against camping, littering and other problems that have occurred there.

The work could start in the fall and take about a year, said Nathan Houx, the parks planning and development manager for Modesto. The site will be closed during construction.

Ralston Tower Park has mostly grass and benches now, along with trees that offer plenty of shade. The project will add fitness equipment that helps seniors work on balance and agility, along with areas for yoga, horseshoe tossing and a game called cornhole. The park will get tables for picnics and for chess and checkers games.

Despite the senior-oriented design, the place will be for people of all ages.

“It’s there to address all the elements of a person’s life and how to stay healthy through old age,” Houx said.

He talked about the project during a visit that included Deputy City Manager Caluha Barnes. She said park improvement projects in general tend to reduce issues with homeless people.

The park will have low fencing with four entry points, along with improved lighting and its first security cameras.

The site for the park was donated to the city in 1918 by Nellie Maze and C.M. Maze, but it was not created until the 1970s. Ralston Tower was downtown’s only large apartment building until the 2016 opening of the Tower Park senior apartments at 17th and G streets.

O’Dell Engineering of Modesto designed the Ralston Tower Park improvements. The city has not yet chosen a construction contractor.

The recent grant came from the state Land and Water Conservation Fund. The other $550,000 was from the federal Community Development Block Grant program.