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A trailblazer preserves a park

by Jeb Bing

The colorful festivities of last Saturday's trail dedication honoring the late Marilyn Kane had their somber -- at times, even tearful -- moments as Jim Kane talked about his wife's efforts to preserve the open space in the city's new Bernal Community Park. More than 70 of us were there to thank Kane and his children for their gift of $650,000 from the Kane family trust for the 1.1-mile paved trail along the Arroyo de la Laguna where Marilyn often walked before cancer took her life in November 2006. There to join in the dedication were sons Bruce and Tom and daughter Lisa Kane Walsh and their spouses and some of their children. In his remarks, Kane told of Lisa coming to him on behalf of the three to suggest using the inheritance for a park as a fitting memorial for their mother.

A bicyclist as well as a frequent walker, Marilyn knew all of the pathways in Pleasanton since 1952 when the Kanes moved here. She loved the outdoors, the views of the ridgeland and the reasonably gentle topography that makes Pleasanton a place where people of all ages can easily walk. They both enjoyed the open space along Bernal Avenue and I-680, which she called her "field of dreams." Owned by the Spring Valley Water Company, Jim Kane said the site's numerous water wells provided water to a number of Bay Area communities, including San Francisco. But after San Francisco built the Hetch Hetchy reservoir, it also acquired Spring Valley and, along with land around Sunol and the Alameda Creek all the way to the Calaveras Reservoir, the 510-acre unincorporated Bernal property at the Pleasanton city limits.

Kane said that with the rapid growth of Pleasanton in the late 1970s and 1980s, it didn't take long for someone in San Francisco to realize they had a "gold mine" in Pleasanton, a superb piece of flatland with great views and good freeway access. The first of several housing development proposals followed, starting with more than 3,000, then reduced to 2,600 and then fewer. After being rebuffed repeatedly by the Pleasanton City Council, San Francisco finally accepted a deal with Greenbriar Homes buying the Bernal property for $126 million and giving 318 acres to the city of Pleasanton, land to be used only for public purposes. He recalled how he and his wife had congratulated the City Council for resisting the mass-housing plans that San Francisco had advanced, which Kane said would have brought a Daly City look to Bernal. But their efforts to preserve the new public lands in Bernal for open space were still threatened as the council set up a task force to determine how it should be used. The Kanes watched as solicited ideas poured in, including using the land for a cemetery, for churches, for a 4-H working animal farm, for senior and affordable apartments and even for a performing arts center.

About this time, Kane told us, he and Marilyn took a trip to the Northwest and she insisted on stopping for a day at Lithia Park in Ashland, Ore., which had gained national recognition as a scenic preserve and public park. Although different in topography, it was the concept of maintaining the natural beauty and open space of the area that encouraged three Ashland women in 1910 to create Lithia Park. Why not the same for Pleasanton's Bernal Park, she thought. Buying books, maps and photos, she came home on a mission to make that happen. With a sandwich board strapped on her shoulders, Marilyn Kane went to meetings and walked up and down Main Street to gain support. Two years ago, Pleasanton voters adopted a plan advanced by the City Council that will preserve all or most of the 318-acre Bernal site into as an uncluttered open preserve of public gardens, meadows, waterways, wildlife and trails accessible to all ages. Thanks to Jim Kane and his sons and daughter, the new Marilyn Kane Trail is a start.