"Less is better." That was the consensus at an October 28, 2021 virtual meeting, where residents near East Hillsdale Park reviewed the City of San Mateo's first round of playground designs and asked for something simpler. A year earlier, a neighborhood survey had already set the boundaries: one consolidated play area on the north side of the park, separate zones for toddlers and older kids, no restroom and no BBQs.
On Wednesday, October 7, 2026, the park at 123 31st Avenue reopens with that brief built into the ground. The City's Parks and Recreation Department is holding a short ceremony at 1 p.m. The park has been closed since September 2, 2025, and the 2.1-acre park is getting its first playground upgrade in 20 years. It comes back as a small neighborhood park on purpose. The park keeps few amenities of its own and leaves the rest to the places within walking distance, so the way to use it is as one stop on a longer walk.
Four Years From the Vote to the Ribbon
The design was settled long before construction started. The project spent most of its time on paperwork, procurement and waiting for parts:
- 2020: The City surveys nearby residents. They ask for a consolidated north-side play area, split age zones, no restroom and no BBQs.
- October 28, 2021: At a virtual meeting, residents push the first designs toward a "less is better" approach.
- January 2022: More than 60 residents gather at the park and vote on three equipment designs, each from a different manufacturer. They pick HAGS equipment from Miracle Playsystems.
- March 2022: The Park and Recreation Commission backs the community's choice.
- 2024: Callander Associates Landscape Architects finishes the construction documents.
- June 2, 2025: City Council awards the construction contract to Suarez & Munoz Construction. Two weeks later it hires 4LEAF, Inc. for construction management.
- September 2, 2025: The whole park closes. The City estimates a 12-month closure.
- April 2026: Supply-chain delays hold up the play equipment and light poles. Pathways are 80% complete.
- October 7, 2026: The park reopens after 13 months.
The neighborhood picked the equipment in early 2022, and the same HAGS design was still the plan when it went to City Council in June 2025. City staff recommended buying the equipment directly from Miracle Playsystems through the Sourcewell purchasing cooperative, writing that this would avoid a contractor markup. The recommended purchase was capped at $210,371.19, including a 10 percent contingency. That sits on top of a separate $2,050,000 construction contract. The City has said the project stayed within budget but has not published a final total. Funding came from the City's Park and Recreation Revenue Fund and California's Proposition 68.
What Neighbors Asked for Besides the Playground
The January 2022 meeting covered more than slides and swings. Residents raised three other problems: an aging irrigation system, poor stormwater drainage and a worn-out perimeter pathway. The City folded all three into the final construction documents.
The finished renovation reflects that. According to The San Mateo Record, it delivered new play equipment, a repaved perimeter pathway, upgraded lighting and a new storm drainage system. The 2024 construction documents also called for tree protection, LED path lamps, new safety surfacing, synthetic turf, irrigation, landscaping and site furnishings. The drainage has already been tested. The April 2026 update reported that the new system performed as designed during recent storms, months before the playground was finished.
People who walk the loop every day will feel the path and lighting changes as much as families will feel the new playground. The City's own list of schedule risks reflects how much of the work was infrastructure. It named tree and root protection, drainage and lighting installation, and weather.
The play area follows the 2020 brief. The City's rendering shows separate HAGS zones for ages 2 to 5 and 5 to 12, with a climbing wall, a spinner, an inclusive roundabout and swings. A 2022 City bid document also listed a picnic area, benches, a water-bottle filling station and a dog drinking fountain. Those were planned items, so the ceremony on the 7th is the first chance to see which ones were actually built.
What the Park Leaves to Its Neighbors
The trade-off for a quiet park is that it doesn't cover every need. Following the 2020 survey, the final scope includes no restroom, BBQs or courts. The City's own project FAQ points to other parks for what East Hillsdale doesn't have.
| What you're looking for | Where it is | Distance from East Hillsdale Park |
|---|---|---|
| A second neighborhood park | West Hillsdale Park, 345 31st Ave. | 0.3 miles |
| Public tennis courts | Beresford Park, 2720 Alameda de las Pulgas | 0.7 miles |
| Another park to the south | Indian Springs Park, 313 W. 39th Ave. | 0.7 miles |
| Another park nearby | Paddock Park, 2900 Baze Road | 0.7 miles |
| A larger park east of the tracks | Bay Meadows Park, 301 E. 28th Ave. | 0.8 miles |
Food and errands are close by too. Hillsdale Shopping Center sits at Sixty 31st Avenue, where Hillsdale Boulevard meets El Camino Real, on the same street as the park. Its directory includes Shake Shack, Palette Tea Garden, California Pizza Kitchen, The Cheesecake Factory and Cinépolis Luxury Cinemas. A few blocks east, Hillsdale Caltrain Station at 50 E. 28th Avenue has bike racks, bike lockers and SamTrans connections. From there you can walk on to Bay Meadows Park.
Together, those places add up to a full afternoon. Start at the playground, walk 0.3 miles up 31st Avenue to West Hillsdale Park, then double back toward the shopping center for food. The tennis players in the group can split off for Beresford. East Hillsdale Park has a narrow role in that walk, and the rest of 31st Avenue covers what it leaves out.
The Rules That Come Back With the Gates
The City's reopening notice says plainly that East Hillsdale Park is "tucked within a residential neighborhood" and has no reserved parking. Street parking is the only option, and the City asks visitors not to block driveways or double-park. For anyone within a few blocks, that is a good reason to walk to the ceremony on the 7th rather than drive.
The citywide park rules apply here too:
- Hours: 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., unless a posted exception or permit says otherwise.
- Dogs: Leashed everywhere except designated off-leash areas. Dogs are not allowed within 20 feet of installed playground equipment.
- Questions: Parks and Recreation takes calls at (650) 522-7400 and email at [email protected].
The 20-foot rule matters more here than at most parks. The new play area is consolidated on the north side and the perimeter path loops the whole site, so dog walkers on the loop will pass close to the playground zones. Leashed dogs can use the repaved path. They just need to stay well clear of the equipment.
The ceremony runs from 1 to 2 p.m. on Wednesday, October 7. The City has called it a chance for the neighborhood to come together and see the improvements. The playground design behind it goes back to January 2022, when more than 60 residents gathered at this same park to vote.
Living near 31st Avenue and wondering how projects like the East Hillsdale Park renovation fit into what your street is worth? The Canlas Brothers follow these local changes block by block. Schedule your free Home Strategy Consultation and we'll go through what's changing near you.
