Around Town: dinosaurs, Boulware Park and ice cream

CAN YOU DIG IT? … Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo is preparing to welcome two new residents to an eclectic menagerie that includes Claude the alligator, Edward the tortoise and flamingos galore. One newbie is squat and wears spiked armor; the other is a herbivorous giant with a protrusion on its head. Both are California natives who have been extinct for millions of years and who will embark on a new life in the courtyard of the Rinconada Park museum. The museum is planning to install in mid- to late September two new life-sized dinosaur sculptures, an exhibit that will serve as a centerpiece of the Dawn Redwood Courtyard. The area already includes prehistoric ferns, cycads, the namesake dawn redwood tree and California marine fossils. One of the dinosaurs will be an Altopelta, a small, armored dinosaur that will stand next to the fossil dig and be accessible for children to climb. The larger one will be an Augustynolophus, the state dinosaur of California. The sculptures will turn the courtyard into an immersive diorama reflecting the Cretaceous Period in California, according to the Junior Museum. While museum staff and supporters are excited to open the dinosaur exhibit, the City Council was slightly more ambivalent last December, when it was asked to pay for nearly half of the $980,000 project. (The rest is coming from a federal grant and donations to the nonprofit Friends of the Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo.) Vice Mayor Greer Stone quipped at that time that he had never imagined that as an elected leader he’d be asked to make decisions on dinosaurs. "But as a fan of Jurassic Park, I'm not too disappointed, as long as they don't come alive and start eating the museum attendees," he said.

GROWTH SPURT … Ventura neighborhood residents will have a reason to celebrate next week, when the city breaks ground on the neighborhood’s most popular new development: the expansion and renovation of Boulware Park. The project has been in the works since 2018, when the city purchased from AT&T an 0.64-acre parcel on Birch Street, next to Boulware Park. The $4.2 million project will furnish the neighborhood hub with an inclusive playground, a basketball court, a dog park, a restroom and an open turf area. There will also be a loop pathway, picnic areas (covered and uncovered), a bocce court and new parking stalls along Lambert Avenue. The City Council unanimously supported the project in June, when it approved the construction contract with the firm OBS Engineering. Construction is slated to start in September and stretch over 14 months, according to city staff. First, however, the city is preparing a small celebration to mark its progress. City Manager Ed Shikada said at the Aug. 21 council meeting that the city is preparing a groundbreaking ceremony at Boulware Park at 10:30 a.m. on Sept. 7. The project contractor and various community leaders are expected to be on hand to celebrate what Shikada called the "first full park renovation and addition of new parkland to the city’s inventory in the past 20 years."

THREE'S COMPANY … What do ice cream, City Council members and folk music have in common? All three will be at Palo Alto's Hoover Park on Sunday, Sept. 10, from 1 to 4 p.m. for the annual Midtown neighborhood social sponsored by the Midtown Residents Association (MRA). True to its name, the "Ice cream and issues" event will feature City Council and school board members serving up ice cream and talking to residents. Attendees can also get the scoop on emergency preparedness and community services, while children will be able to make sand art. As for the folk music, Midtowners Geri McGilvray and Michael Bechler will sing and play traditional folk songs as well as original music by Bechler. "Our annual ice cream social is another way MRA brings our neighbors – 'old-timers' and new arrivals – together," association member Jane Volpe said in an event announcement.