After years of delays and substantial cost increases, construction is expected to start soon on a playground at Rengstorff Park that's designed to be accessible for people of all ages, including those with disabilities.

Originally proposed in 2017, work on the Magical Bridge playground is expected to break ground in September and take roughly 13 months to complete, according to Mountain View city spokesperson Brian Babcock.

The project is a joint effort between the city of Mountain View and Magical Bridge Foundation, a Palo Alto-based nonprofit that creates inclusive outdoor play spaces designed to be accessible for those with physical and cognitive disabilities. The first Magical Bridge playground opened at Mitchell Park in Palo Alto in 2015 and proved to be popular, with more playgrounds subsequently constructed in other communities, including in Redwood City and Sunnyvale.

Since the Mountain View project was initially brought forward six years ago, costs have gone up by almost 50%, rising from $4.9 million to $7.3 million, as of June 2023. The playground is being paid for through a combination of sources, including state and county grants, city money and Magical Bridge Foundation fundraising.

According to Mountain View Assistant Public Works Director Ed Arango, both Magical Bridge and the city have been working to get the project delivered, but the pandemic slowed things down.

"That really threw a big wrench into the ability to continue moving forward," Arango said, adding that staff turnover has also been an issue.

The increasing cost, coupled with Magical Bridge Foundation running into fundraising challenges, has left the city budgeting to contribute more than double the amount it originally expected.

The city also now plans to construct accessible restrooms and parking near the playground, which will involve relocating a maintenance building. That project is expected to cost an additional $7 million, which the city will pay for on its own.

Costs rise as fundraising proves difficult

The original budget for the playground was $4.9 million. The city expected to contribute nearly $1.4 million (including $375,000 in city administrative costs); Magical Bridge planned to raise about $2.5 million. The funding plan also anticipated $1 million in grant money from Santa Clara County.

The project is now expected to cost roughly $7.3 million. High inflation over the past couple years has led to increased costs for materials and labor, driving up the project's price tag, Babcock said.

There have been some bright spots in the funding picture. The project ended up securing $1.7 million in county grant money, which was more than originally expected, plus about $229,000 from the state. The larger county grant led the city and Magical Bridge to agree to reduce Magical Bridge's fundraising target to roughly $2 million.

In addition, Google contributed $900,000 as part of the community benefits package for its Landings project, a set of office buildings the tech company plans to construct in North Bayshore along Highway 101.

However, these additional funding sources weren't enough to keep pace with the rising cost of the project, and the Magical Bridge Foundation also ran into difficulty raising money. The nonprofit has brought in $1.2 million, roughly 60% of its goal, according to a June 2023 City Council staff report. Of that total, only $19,329 has been raised since May 2022.

Magical Bridge Foundation founder and CEO Olenka Villarreal told the Voice that her nonprofit has been working to raise money, but that the pandemic slowed down fundraising efforts. The group had also hoped to get donations from real estate developers, but Villarreal said that proved more of a challenge than expected.

"That was the one surprise that we had in Mountain View that we didn't necessarily have in other cities," Villarreal said. "The developers felt they had already paid in for community benefits, and so did not feel motivated to pay above and beyond what they already paid to the city."

With costs rising and fundraising proving a challenge, the city now plans to contribute about $3.3 million to the playground's construction, more than double the $1.4 million that it originally expected.

The city will pay for the project using its Park Land Dedication Fund, which is money real estate developers pay the city to provide park space, often in lieu of providing the open space within the developments themselves.

The City Council unanimously approved increasing its contribution towards the project at a June 27 meeting, but not without council members raising concerns about the project's status.

"I am disappointed in the amount of fundraising that they've been able to accomplish," council member Lisa Matichak said.

The city's agreement with Magical Bridge Foundation called for it to give the nonprofit a $50,000 "progress payment" when it hits the roughly $2 million goal. City staff recommended to the council that it reduce the target to the amount currently raised, roughly $1.2 million, so that the payment could be processed.

The council instead opted not to reduce the goal and to release a progress payment proportional to the amount raised, with plans to revisit making an additional payment one year after the playground is finished.

"As much as I appreciate the efforts that have been made, I just don't feel comfortable providing the full $50,000, when the job, frankly, in my mind has not been completed," council member Margaret Abe-Koga said, noting that the city needs more park space and is having to use its park funds to subsidize this project.

When asked about the council's decision not to release the full $50,000, Villarreal said that it was "water under the bridge" and that she is just happy the project is moving forward. She also said that Magical Bridge is reaching out to council members to make sure that there's clear communication about the project.

"The Magical Bridge project will go far beyond providing park and recreation space; it will be a place where everyone in a community comes together regardless of age and ability," Villarreal said.

Villarreal also argued that while Magical Bridge has only directly raised $1.2 million, the nonprofit has "activated" a much larger figure. She said Magical Bridge wrote the grant application that led to the county's $1.7 million contribution.

"The $1.7M award was $700k more than the original target of $1M, in large part due to Magical Bridge’s expertise in all-inclusive playgrounds and programming and its proven track record with the County," Villarreal said.

The nonprofit also engaged in "ongoing outreach" to Google to get the tech company's $900,000 contribution directed towards the playground project, according to Villarreal.

For the city's part, Arango said that the $900,000 from Google was part of the company's community benefits package and went straight to the city. As for the county grant, the city and Magical Bridge worked as "partners in developing" the application, but the city was the listed applicant, Babcock said.

Magical Bridge plans to continue trying to raise money, Villarreal said. If more donations come in, the city will be able to reduce the amount it contributes, Arango said.

Both the city and Magical Bridge stressed that they are looking forward to seeing the playground project come to fruition.

"We are very excited to be opening one in Mountain View," Villarreal said. "I think it's going to be wonderful. I know there's a lot of families that have been waiting for it. We're excited that it's moving into the construction phase."

Auxiliary project

In addition to the playground itself, the city also plans to add parking and accessible restrooms near the play space, which will involve demolishing an existing restroom/maintenance building and a tennis building. The new restrooms near the playground will also include space for tennis equipment storage. The city then plans to build a new maintenance building and restrooms near the barbecue area of Rengstorff Park.

The total project is expected to cost $7 million on its own. That's more than double the previous budget of about $3.4 million. City staff say the cost increase is due to high inflation, "current market conditions" and the fact that the city only received one bid for the project, Babcock said.

The council approved kicking in the additional about $3.6 million at the June 27 council meeting. The funding will come from the Park Land Dedication Fund, which is the same way the city is paying for the playground.

According to Villarreal, combining the maintenance and tennis building replacement with the playground project required coordinated the construction timelines and "led to the delay of project commencement until now."

The city refutes that claim.

"The maintenance and tennis building project did not delay bidding the project for construction," Babcock said. "Each project had its own design consultant team and they worked simultaneously on parallel schedules."

The city is also renovating the aquatics center and building a new pool at Rengstorff Park, but that project is operating independently of both the playground and the maintenance and tennis building project, Arango said.

To find out more about the project and Magical Bridge's fundraising effort, visit magicalbridge.org/mountainview-playground.