Boulware Park

For years Boulware Park was a modest neighborhood lot with a basketball court and a couple of play structures. Then the city bought the old AT&T site next door and spent about $4.2 million joining the pieces. The result reopened in April 2025. The city's project pages put the finished park at 2.4 acres, with play areas, a basketball court, picnic space and a meadow. The city called the 2023 groundbreaking its first park expansion in 20 years.

The city's park page gives the address as 390 Fernando Road. Its project pages use 410 Fernando Avenue. Both point to the same park in Ventura, the small-lot neighborhood between El Camino Real and Alma Street. It is the only park inside Ventura, which explains why neighbors pushed so hard for the bigger version. This guide covers what is there now, how the expansion came together, who John Boulware was and how the park fits with the creek and the area plan around it.

Boulware Park at a glance

The city's park page lists BBQ grills, picnic tables, drinking fountains, wheelchair access, basketball courts, walking trails and playgrounds. It says the expansion and renovation were complete as of April 25, 2025 and that the park is fully open. It lists no restroom and no dog area.

That page still opens with an older line describing a "1.5 acre neighborhood park between Matadero Creek and residential and commercial properties." The project pages give 2.4 acres after the 0.8-acre addition. We use the project figure for the expanded park.

The city's news release for the groundbreaking and local coverage of the reopening add detail the feature list leaves out:

• Two playgrounds: a tot lot and a larger play area with a climbing dome, a slide and a climbing structure. Reporting on the reopening notes both areas are fenced and surfaced with artificial turf.
• A basketball court, kept from the old park.
• A bocce court, described in the release and in reopening coverage. The park page's feature list does not include it.
• A shaded picnic area and an open grass meadow.
• Walking paths that loop through both parcels.
• A bio-filtration planter that cleans stormwater before it drains away.

The city's park page also lists wheelchair access. That tag covers paths and facilities. It does not promise that every piece of play equipment works for a child in a wheelchair. For that, Magical Bridge at Mitchell Park is still the reference point.

There is no entry fee and no reservation system. The city takes group picnic reservations only at Mitchell, Rinconada and Foothills, so the tables here are first come, first served.

How the park doubled in size

The story starts with a neighbor. According to the city, a resident first suggested buying the AT&T property beside the park. The city completed the purchase in 2018 and folded it into a park improvement project that had been planned since 2017 for the original parcels.

Design work ran for several years. The city's project page records the steps:

1. November 9, 2019: first community meeting on what the park should include. Restrooms, playgrounds and open turf ranked highest.
2. November 2019 to January 2020: an online survey with 66 responses. About 88 percent supported closing part of Ash Street to connect the two parcels.
3. January 28, 2020: first review by the Parks and Recreation Commission.
4. February 27 and December 7, 2020: more meetings on schematic designs.
5. June 19, 2023: the City Council approved the construction contract with OBS Engineering.
6. September 7, 2023: groundbreaking.
7. April 18, 2025: partial reopening. April 25, 2025: fully open.

The city put the total cost at $4.2 million, with $219,000 from a state Proposition 68 grant. Its project page lists a contract value of just over $4.08 million. A short list of leftover items, including turf replacement, fencing and bollards, was set for completion in fall 2025 by other contractors and city crews.

One thing residents asked for does not appear in the final plans: a permanent restroom. The city's park page lists no restroom. The nearest park with listed restrooms is Peers Park, about a mile north on Park Boulevard.

What about the dog park?

The 2023 news release listed a dog park among the new features. The city's dog park listings have also described a planned off-leash area of about half an acre at Boulware. The city's park page today lists no dog area. Reporting on the April 2025 reopening describes the playgrounds, basketball, bocce and lawn and says nothing about a dog run.

Until the city lists Boulware alongside Mitchell, Peers, Hoover and Greer, the city leash rule applies across the whole park. The nearest confirmed run is at Peers Park on Park Boulevard, the largest in the city at 0.84 acre. Our dog parks guide lists all of them with their rules.

John Wesley Boulware and the old ranch

The city acquired the original park land in 1965. It first carried the plain name South Palo Alto Neighborhood Park. Its current name honors John Wesley Boulware, whom the city describes as one of the area's early settlers.

According to the city, Boulware arrived in October 1852 at the age of 22. He farmed a 160-acre ranch that took in the park site. He also invented a ventilated box for storing fruit, a useful idea in a valley that would soon be covered with orchards. He went on to serve as a Santa Clara County supervisor and sat on the local school board. The city's own web page for the park still uses the full name, John Boulware Park.

The ground around the park later became one of Palo Alto's working neighborhoods. Ventura grew up around a large cannery at 340 Portage Avenue, built in 1918. Our history of Thomas Foon Chew and the Bayside Cannery explains how that plant shaped the streets near the park. Ventura was unincorporated county land until Palo Alto annexed it on December 29, 1954, which is part of why the city bought park land here only in the 1960s.

The creek and the area plan

Matadero Creek runs in a concrete channel just east of the park. In 2020 consultants studying the North Ventura area for the city looked at ways to widen and soften that channel. One option paired a wider creek corridor with land at Boulware Park and was judged feasible. Another idea in the same work was a walking path from Boulware Park toward Park Boulevard, passing under the Lambert Avenue bridge. Neither is funded as a project yet. Our Matadero Creek guide covers the options in detail.

The city adopted the North Ventura Coordinated Area Plan on August 5, 2024. It is meant to bring more housing to the blocks around the former cannery. More neighbors means more pressure on a 2.4-acre park, which is one reason the expansion mattered so much to residents.

Hours and rules

Posted hours on the city's park page are sunrise to sunset. The municipal code sets a 10:30 p.m. closing for city parks. Boulware has no sports lighting, so in practice it is a daylight park. A few other rules apply here in particular:

• Alcohol is banned outright. The code names Boulware in its list of parks where drinking is not allowed, with no permit option.
• Dogs must be on a leash everywhere in the park. The city's page lists no dog area.
• Drones are banned in city parks and open space.
• Feeding wildlife is banned in city parks.

The full text sits in Title 22 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code. Closures and follow-up work appear on the city's Boulware Park project page.

Getting there

The California Avenue Caltrain station is the closest train stop, roughly two thirds of a mile north. From the station, walk south on Park Boulevard and turn toward Fernando Avenue. VTA Route 22 and Rapid 522 run along El Camino Real at the west edge of the neighborhood.

By bike, Park Boulevard is a calm route parallel to the tracks. Ventura's side streets are narrow and slow. Parking is on the street. Ventura's narrow streets have limited curb space, so walking or biking is easier when you can.

What is nearby

• California Avenue: restaurants, cafes and the Sunday farmers market are a short walk north. See where to eat near California Avenue.
• Ventura Community Center: the city site at 3990 Ventura Court has its own park and playground, a second option close by.
• Bowden Park: the Royston-designed garden park beside the California Avenue station. See our Bowden Park guide.
• Peers Park: restrooms, tennis courts and the big dog run, about a mile north on Park Boulevard.

A simple family outing: train to California Avenue, an early lunch on the avenue, then a walk down Park Boulevard to Boulware for the playground and a round of bocce. The whole loop is flat and stroller friendly.

Frequently asked questions