Monopoly in the Park
Live Large!
ANNOUNCEMENTS
The opening announcements made by Jill Cody of Friends of San Jose.
A HUGE UNDERTAKING
Unveiling the Monopoly in the Park game board is a massive undertaking.
UNVEILING THE BOARD
Announcements over and getting the protective covering removed.
Creation of Monopoly in the Park
Grand Opening...
The purpose of Monopoly in the Park was to create a unique 'game garden' where people could actually be the tokens in the game. The games uses the 'short game' rules and two people play each token instead of one person. One person wears a giant token hat. The other person has the money and other playing equipment and runs to the banker or other players to collect rent. There are also giant dice, hotels and houses too.
To buy the board from the granite company cost $60,000. To build the first phase of the game garden cost $250,000.
Because there was a need for a fiscal agent the Friends of San Jose Beautiful (now know simply as Friends of San Jose) was created and there was mutual assistance and communication between both entities with some volunteers serving on both Board of Directors.
Friends of San Jose (FSJ) was issued a $50,000 grant from the Metro A Fund through the San Jose Chamber of Commerce. FSJ secured a purchase agreement with Cypress Granite. FSJ secured permission to locate the board in a city park in what would become known as Discovery Meadows. FSJ secured an agreement for maintenance of the board with Parks & Recreation Department and for security through San Jose Police Department.
A draft agreement was initiated between FSJ and City of San Jose which has not been fully finalized by the City Attorney's Office. FSJ has engaged in fundraising efforts, participated in the groundbreaking and unveiling ceremonies, and has marketed the board. FSJ has in fact acted as the legal owner of the board even though the City owns the land underneath it. FSJ also designed and helped to place the sign in front of the board.
The current MITP is actually phase one of a two phase concept. The site was designed to have finer optic lighting at night when phase two is built. It is pre-cabled for the finer optic wiring that still requires additional funding for it. It will also have game tables with seating in case people want to play board games in the park. It is also supposed to have some Monopoly theme art on the site as well.. There would be theme-related gardens and there will be an official donor wall to thank all the supporters over the years that have been instrumental in its creation and ongoing development.
Another unique aspect of this project is to one day hold an annual Official Monopoly Tournament with the winner attending the national and international competitions organized by Parker Brothers.
It will become an even greater destination place once the other features are completed. It already is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest monopoly board and is unique in the world.
To buy the board from the granite company cost $60,000. To build the first phase of the game garden cost $250,000.
Because there was a need for a fiscal agent the Friends of San Jose Beautiful (now know simply as Friends of San Jose) was created and there was mutual assistance and communication between both entities with some volunteers serving on both Board of Directors.
Friends of San Jose (FSJ) was issued a $50,000 grant from the Metro A Fund through the San Jose Chamber of Commerce. FSJ secured a purchase agreement with Cypress Granite. FSJ secured permission to locate the board in a city park in what would become known as Discovery Meadows. FSJ secured an agreement for maintenance of the board with Parks & Recreation Department and for security through San Jose Police Department.
A draft agreement was initiated between FSJ and City of San Jose which has not been fully finalized by the City Attorney's Office. FSJ has engaged in fundraising efforts, participated in the groundbreaking and unveiling ceremonies, and has marketed the board. FSJ has in fact acted as the legal owner of the board even though the City owns the land underneath it. FSJ also designed and helped to place the sign in front of the board.
The current MITP is actually phase one of a two phase concept. The site was designed to have finer optic lighting at night when phase two is built. It is pre-cabled for the finer optic wiring that still requires additional funding for it. It will also have game tables with seating in case people want to play board games in the park. It is also supposed to have some Monopoly theme art on the site as well.. There would be theme-related gardens and there will be an official donor wall to thank all the supporters over the years that have been instrumental in its creation and ongoing development.
Another unique aspect of this project is to one day hold an annual Official Monopoly Tournament with the winner attending the national and international competitions organized by Parker Brothers.
It will become an even greater destination place once the other features are completed. It already is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest monopoly board and is unique in the world.