Crews demolishing Modesto’s Ralston Tower Park to make room for senior-focused park
Workers have started remaking the tiny park next to Ralston Tower, the affordable senior apartment complex in downtown Modesto.
Residents said the construction crew started work Tuesday. The crew was tearing out and removing the park’s concrete and turf before starting the grading work.
The towering trees that provide the roughly third-acre city park with shade and charm are staying but, according to the city, four smaller trees are being removed and will be replaced with new ones as part of the makeover.
City officials have said the remake will cost $1.2 million and will be paid for with grants. The park now is fenced off and closed.
Deputy City Manager Caluha Barnes said recently that the park should be closed for about nine months. That includes time for the new landscaping to get established.
The makeover includes taking out most of the grass, putting a 4-foot-tall fence around the park, along with lighting and security cameras. The amenities include walking paths, game tables, a plaza, a horseshoe pit, fitness equipment, benches and a drinking fountain.
The park has been a popular spot for homeless people. Several Ralston Tower residents who were watching the construction work Thursday say they and other residents have been wary to use the park because of the homeless.
“It’s a good thing,” said Dave Camacho, 54, about the makeover. Camacho is the live-in caretaker for his mom. They have lived at the 11-story Ralston Tower for nine years. “... Let’s hope it works out well.”
Camacho said Ralston Tower residents would walk on the sidewalk around the park but were reluctant to enter it because of the homeless. “Always concerned about them because they are always around, unfortunately,” he said. “They’re people, too. I don’t know what we are going to do about it. They may be here also.”
Camacho said some of the homeless in the park engaged in “screaming, acting loud and violent among themselves. Nobody wanted to walk around that.”
While the park will have a senior-focused design, city officials have said it is for all residents, including homeless people who follow rules against camping, littering and other problems that have occurred there. City officials also have said that providing opportunities for more positive uses in parks can drive out negative uses.
