New park named after city arborist

When Sunnyvale solicited names for its new park on Deguigne Drive earlier this year, some residents (pranksters?) asked why not Parky McParkface? But when the dust cleared, a wiser choice emerged.

On Tuesday night, the City Council picked Wiser Park, named after Loren Wiser, a longtime city arborist who died in 2007 at the age of 59. It was “the reasonable thing to do,” Vice Mayor Larry Klein said.

The council’s vote was unanimous after four of Wiser’s loved ones, including his wife, Deborah, urged the council to consider naming the new park after a man they lauded for his devotion to his hometown, its trees and his family.

Robert Reid called his friend Wiser an altruistic individual, someone he felt he could rely on. “He had the best intentions and the energy to carry those intentions forward to make Sunnyvale a better place, a pretty place, a softer place,” Reid said.

Park names for Jeanine Stanek, the late chief archivist for the Sunnyvale Historical Society, and Richard Milkovich, a former parks and recreation director who is credited with overseeing the design and construction of Sunnyvale’s parks and golf courses, were also considered.

The public can get its first look at Wiser Park later this summer or early fall.

A date for its opening hasn’t yet been determined, but when it does the park will feature exercise equipment, an open grass area, barbecues, shaded picnic tables and a half basketball court, according to city spokeswoman Jennifer Garnett.

The park is on the site of a newly developed townhouse community that until 2014 was home to semiconductor manufacturer Spansion, which last year merged with Cypress Semiconductor. Landsea Holdings Corp., a Chinese company whose U.S. division is based in Irvine, purchased the 24.5-acre site to build 450 townhouses.

The park was built and paid for by The Vale, a developer. Construction began last July.