Valley Post Post |
At 535 Acres, "Little Basin" is Poised to Become County's Newest State Park |
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September 26 , 2007 By Michael Thomas
High in the Santa Cruz Mountains, next door to the towering trees of Big Basin, is a 535-acre property with campgrounds and cabins that will soon be opened to the public. The property is unique — unlike almost any other that could be acquired for public use. Much more than a tract of vacant woodlands, the former Hewlett Packard retreat — better known by generations of HP employees as Little Basin — is already fully developed for recreation. There are 14 cabins on the property and 36 tent sites along with picnic areas, playgrounds, a recreation hall, restrooms, an amphitheater and a 4,000-square-foot caretaker's residence. The property's access road is about 15 minutes north of Boulder Creek on Highway 236, just past the Boulder Creek Golf and Country Club. From Private Retreat to Public Park For more than four decades, Little Basin was a private retreat for Hewlett Packard employees, who would gather there for massive weekend barbecues and campouts. It was a place where management staff flipped burgers and employees sat down to meals at picnic tables designed by Bill Hewlett himself. On June 1 this year, Hewlett Packard sold the land with all its amenities to the Sempervirens Fund and the Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) for $4 million. For Sempervirens, the purchase of the land will build upon the organization's earliest preservation success. The group was formed in 1900 by activists bent on preserving the mighty coastal redwoods, and in 1902 they succeeded in lobbying for the creation of Big Basin State Park. Today, the park spans over 18,000 acres, and if all goes as planned, it will soon grow by more than 500 additional acres. Brian Steen, Executive Director of Sempervirens, spoke highly of Hewlett Packard's move to sell the land. "HP was excellent to work with," he said. "They wanted assurance that the property would eventually go to the state of California and that's why they were able to do such a good price for us." The property had been appraised at $11.4 million, some $7.4 million more than Sempervirens paid. "When deciding the future of the Little Basin property, our foremost goal was to ensure the continued preservation of this beautiful site," said Steve Brashear, HP's vice president of real estate and workplace services. A Deal a Long Time in the Making For decades, Little Basin has been an obvious candidate for amalgamation into the Big Basin Park that surrounds it on three sides. "We contacted HP over 20 years ago trying to buy it," Steen explained. "They said 'Thanks for contacting us but we're not ready.'" In the meantime, Hewlett Packard grew into a corporation with over 150,000 employees in locations worldwide and it became clear that Little Basin could no longer serve the entire company in the manner it once did. The sale of Little Basin came as Hewlett Packard moved to divest itself of recreational properties in several countries. "It's not like the 1960s and 1970s anymore, where they would have big picnics and have several thousand people out there," Steen said. Turn-key Park Offers Enormous Potential for Public State Parks officials who toured the property were amazed at the outstanding condition of the facilities. "It's a beautiful property," said Dave Vincent, Superintendent of Santa Cruz State Parks. Little Basin sits at 1,200 feet above sea level, and the hiking trails on the property reach elevations of over 2,000 feet, giving spots like Buzzard's Roost remarkable views of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Though 535 acres of land will provide a relatively small boost to the size of Big Basin, the condition of the property makes it unique. There are relatively new playgrounds, a ball field, tennis and basketball courts, a large kitchen house and a recreation hall. In 2006, HP spent over $250,000 repaving and sealing every road on the property. The restrooms and most of the buildings are already ADA handicapped accessible. "It's got some camping facilities that are all ready to go and it's got infrastructure in place. All of those things make it desirable," Vincent said. Steen, who has worked in parks since 1969, thinks the campgrounds are among the nicest he has seen. Walking the property, he points out the high quality of every improvement, in some cases things that State Parks might not have been able to afford. Some of the facilities won't be appropriate for State Parks use. The dunking booth where HP department managers once sat on a spring-loaded seat over a concrete water tank will probably be removed. The beer house, with its row of keg taps along an outside wall, will likely be converted to another use. Little Basin Includes Pond The property has some interesting history. One outcropping of sandstone has grinding holes where Ohlone Indians are believed to have pulverized fruits, acorns and other nuts. Between 1885 and 1910, the land was logged, so few old growth trees remain. A forest fire swept through after the last logging was completed, leaving redwood stumps and trunks hollowed and blackened. One giant redwood log, hollowed by fire, is large enough for a child to walk through. In the late 1930s, a rancher attempted to raise cattle on the property, but he discovered that the topsoil was too thin to grow sufficient grass. However, the reservoir that was built to water the cattle now has a picturesque dock, and it's stocked for catch-and-release fishing. In 1940, the land was sold to a Mr. Rohn, who refurbished surplus WWII vehicles and used the land as a military surplus depot. Rohn cut trees and cleared some of the open spaces that are used for recreation today. Rohn also built another dam to improve the supply of drinking water. The water pipe he installed was made from old diesel fuel line that had been made for the Pacific Fleet at Guadalcanal. In 1963, Hewlett Packard owned the Felton Campgrounds along the San Lorenzo River, but needed a larger space to host events for the growing company. Little Basin fit the bill. In the decade that followed, employee volunteers spent weekends developing personalized campsites. A cook shack and bandstand were constructed with lumber from a fallen redwood. The backdrop for the bandstand is a replica of the façade of the famous Palo Alto garage where Bill Hewlett's and Dave Packard's first products were developed. Between 1991 and 2001, HP completed an overhaul of Little Basin that included numerous upgrades to the cabins, roads, sports facilities and playgrounds. As a result, many of the improvements are just a few years old. For HP employees who once frequented the property, the sale of Little Basin was the passing of an era, marked with some disappointment. But many continue to visit. The property is currently open only to employees of HP, Sempervirens and POST. The two non-profits are spending about $100,000 a year to maintain the property and employ a caretaker who lives on the property. But that will change within a year or two. Is State Parks Ready to Take Over? Little Basin will be a remarkable addition to Big Basin. Although there is no road connecting the two, Little Basin can be reached with a day hike from the current park headquarters. Vincent said the integration of the two will take some effort. "It really does require some hard planning and not just shooting from the hip," he said. "Anytime you have a property that includes camping you need some staff that is dedicated to that." Big Basin is currently staffed with a supervising ranger and three rangers. The park has three job vacancies as a result of rangers recently transferring to other parks. Vincent has sought authorization to fill those vacancies, and additional positions will have to be created for Little Basin. Although the sale price was remarkably low, it may be a year or two before the state allocates enough cash to purchase it from Sempervirens and POST. Local Assembly member John Laird tried to secure funding for the acquisition with this year's budget. "It's an incredible find for State Parks," Laird said. "It's developed in a wonderful way." He attempted to set aside about $30 million in park bond funds this year for unscheduled purchases, but Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed two-thirds of that allocation in the final budget. It's not the only cut to park funding that emerged this year. Last year, $250 million was allocated for deferred maintenance, but State Parks was only able to spend a third of that. According to Laird, the governor insisted on taking the unspent funds back. "I thought I had done what was necessary in the state budget to [purchase Little Basin,] but the governor's veto took that away," Laird said. Forced to compete with other park acquisitions for a limited amount of money, Little Basin will probably not be transferred this year. "If we don't do it this year, possibly next year," Laird said. "We'll just keep working on it."
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Capitol Office: State Capitol -- P.O. Box 942849 -- Sacramento, CA 94249-0027
-- Phone: (916) 319-2027 -- Fax: (916) 319-2127 District Office: Santa Cruz County District Office -- 701 Ocean Street, Suite 318-B -- Santa Cruz, California 95060 -- Phone: (831) 425-1503 -- Fax: (831) 425-2570 District Office: Monterey County/Santa Clara County District Office -- 99 Pacific Street, Suite 555D -- Monterey, CA 93940 -- Phone: 831-649-2832 -- Fax: 831-649-2935 |
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| Assemblymember.Laird@assembly.ca.gov |