[wburg]

According to the city council's agenda, it looks like the city will be buying the roughly triangular lot right next to the Bee Bridge on 19th and Q (there used to be an electrical transformer there) and turning it into a park. It's an interesting space: it used to be the center of a "wye" where Western Pacific trains left the WP mainline (the one between 19th and 20th) and the Whitney Avenue industrial switching branch (the alley between Q and R.) Also interesting (to a local historian, at least) is that the block across the street (Q from 19th to 20th) was once a city park, known as "Richmond Grove," until the WP put their mainline through it in the early 20th century.

I think the city also plans to add the corner where the transformer was (currently owned by SMUD) to the park space. Should make for a nice little corner. The city Parks Department has been discussing ways to build "pocket parks" in small spaces within the downtown area, and I guess this will be one of their pilot projects.