Shoreline Park (Mountain View, California)

The city of Mountain View bought the site in 1967 to build a recreational facility. However, the cost of importing earth to raise it by {{convert|20|ft}} in order to prevent flooding was too high, so it was instead operated as a landfill accepting garbage from San Francisco.Dylan Hernandez, San Jose Mercury News, [http://www.twincities.com/news/ci_5301845?source=pkg "Shoreline goes from trashy past to 'oasis': Shoreline Park Was Built with San Francisco's Refuse, Money"], Twin Cities.com, Pioneer Press, February 25, 2007, updated March 3, 2007. Shoreline Park opened in 1983, with some initial problems from methane fires.[http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SJ&s_site=mercurynews&p_multi=SJ&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB72DD78A5BD1F0&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM "Shoreline Park Reaches Maturity"], San Jose Mercury News, June 4, 1988. In 1987, Shoreline won the League of California Cities' Helen Putnam Award for public works.[http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SJ&s_site=mercurynews&p_multi=SJ&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB72C82B20B35BA&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM "Dump-De-Dump-Dump That's Fanfare for Mtn. View's Dump Conversion at Shoreline"], San Jose Mercury News, October 14, 1987.

Shoreline Park now features an 18-hole links-style golf course with a pro shop and driving range, Shoreline Golf Links, and a {{convert|50|acre|adj=on}} artificial lake. On the lake's eastern shore is the Shoreline Boathouse, which offers sailboat, windsurfing, kayak, canoe, rowboat, and pedalboat rentals, as well as sailing, windsurfing, and kayaking classes. The adjacent Shoreline American Bistro is open daily and offers a variety of food to lake goers. Shoreline Amphitheatre is next to the golf course. The Rengstorff House, a historic Victorian mansion moved to the park from its original location elsewhere in Mountain View, and Michaels at Shoreline Restaurant are also in the built-up area of the park.

Walkers, runners, bike riders, et al., can enjoy miles of paved and unpaved trails, some of which are part of the San Francisco Bay Trail. The trails connect to the Stevens Creek Trail at the eastern edge of the park and the Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve on the western edge.

Through the developed park, one reaches a wildlife refuge at the edge of the bay, where many birds can be seen at almost any time.

Meadowlands near the mouth of Permanente Creek in Shoreline Park provide critical remnant habitat for western burrowing owls (Athene cunicularia), a bird that has vanished from many counties in the Bay Area. The owl was listed as a Species of Special Concern (a pre-listing category under the Endangered Species Act) by the California Department of Fish and Game in 1979, and its Bay Area population continues to decline. In 2008, City of Mountain View evicted a pair of burrowing owls so that it could sell a parcel of land to Google to build a hotel at Shoreline Boulevard and Charleston Road.{{cite news |title=Burrowing Owls vs. Google:Pair of birds found on Google's hotel site will cost city $150,000 |author=Daniel DeBolt|newspaper=Mountain View Voice |date=January 10, 2008 |url=http://www.mv-voice.com/news/show_story.php?id=348 |accessdate=September 3, 2011 }} Eviction of the owls is controversial because suitable alternative habitat has vanished due to suburban sprawl. Development continued to encroach on the owls' habitat when, in 2010, the City of Mountain View approved Google's plan to build a {{convert|6.9|acre|adj=on}} recreational park for its employees, so that they can play tennis, disc golf, shuffleboard and other activities on Google property that is part of the owls' foraging area.{{cite news |title=Google's proposed park threatens rare owls |author=Priyanka Sharma |date=October 8, 2010 |newspaper=Peninsula Press |url=http://peninsulapress.com/2010/10/08/googles-proposed-park-threatens-rare-owls/ |accessdate=September 3, 2011 }} Although there were hundreds of burrowing owls in Santa Clara County when monitoring began in the 1980s, now there are only 35, with three breeding pairs raising ten eggs at Shoreline in 2011 (less than half the number of young in 2003).{{cite news |title=Will a new plan save the burrowing owls? Audubon hopes to rescue city's favorite bird from decline |author=Daniel DeBolt |newspaper=Mountain View Voice |date=September 2, 2011 |url=http://www.mv-voice.com/news/show_story.php?id=4675) |accessdate=September 4, 2011 }}

Burrowing Owl Family in Antioch.jpg |Family of Burrowing owls

White pelican landing by San Francisco Bay.jpg|American white pelican landing by San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains in background

Greater egret and gull on pilings.jpg|Greater egret and gull on pilings

Greater egret.JPG|Great egret and ducks

great blue heron in shoreline park.JPG|Great blue heron and ducks

Small water birds.jpg|Small water birds

Canada geese in Shorline_Park.jpg|Canada geese in Shoreline Park

Hawk on pole.JPG|Hawk on pole

Early Lake Reflection Shoreline Park Mountain View, California.jpg|Early morning view of lake

Shoreline Amphitheatre.jpg|Shoreline Amphitheatre

IMG_0886-atpc3.JPG|Shoreline Golf Links at Sunset

Shoreline Park, eastern shore of lake.jpg|Portion of lake used for Shoreline Aquatic Center rentals and classes

• A video on the history of the park is available at the Mountain View Public Library.

• [http://www.bahiker.com/southbayhikes/shoreline.html Shoreline at Mountain View, City of Mountain View, Santa Clara County], Bay Area Hiker
• [http://burrowingowlconservation.org/ Burrowing Owl Conservation organization ]
• [http://www.scvas.org Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society]

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{{Mountain View, California}}

{{San Jose and Silicon Valley attractions}}

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Category:Parks in Santa Clara County, California

Category:Mountain View, California

Category:Former landfills in California

Category:Municipal parks in California

Category:San Francisco Bay Trail