San Jose: Park dedicated to Iris Chang could be delayed by Microsoft project
From left, Shau-Jin Chang, and his wife Ying-Ying Chang pose for a portrait at the site of the Iris Chang Memorial Park, named after their daughter, in San Jose, California on Wednesday, November 1, 2017. The park is delayed because Microsoft wants a water well for its new data center and it might be placed on the park land. (LiPo Ching/Bay Area News Group)
By RAMONA GIWARGIS |
rgiwargis@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: November 5, 2017 at 12:00 pm | UPDATED: November 6, 2017 at 12:49 pm
SAN JOSE — Not far from where best-selling Chinese-American author Iris Chang lived before she died in 2004, a vacant plot near an apartment-lined street in North San Jose that was planned to memorialize her is still covered in dirt and surrounded by an orange fence.
Two years ago, San Jose leaders agreed to build a new 3-acre park there named after the internationally recognized author. It was supposed to open this year.
But it hasn’t been an easy journey. First, the park’s debris-filled soil needed to be replaced, causing a year-long delay. Now, supporters worry, a proposal to build a water well on the site primarily to support a tech company could delay the park opening again.
“We feel very disappointed and upset,” said Ying-Ying Chang, Iris’ mother, who lives nearby in the same neighborhood as her daughter did. “We already waited a year. Now if the well is put on the site of Iris Chang Park, the whole design will be changed. It will destroy the aesthetic aspect of the park.”
City leaders are considering placing the well on the park land to accommodate plans for a nearby Microsoft data center, which needs a groundwater well. Putting the well on the site would require a park redesign and would delay its opening for months. A spokesman for Microsoft did not respond to a request for comment.
Famed author Iris Chang as she appeared in 2003. Chang, best known for “The Rape of Nanking,”¯ died in 2004, committing suicide in Los Gatos after suffering from depression briefly at the end of her life.” (Courtesy Jimmy Estimada)
Iris Chang became a worldwide heroine after her 1997 best-seller “The Rape of Nanking” detailed the atrocities of the 1937 Nanking massacre, when the Japanese army brutalized thousands of Chinese soldiers and civilians during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
San Jose officials say that while Iris Chang Park is one of the best options for a new well, other remain under consideration. A final decision on the well site is expected by the end of November. A data center needs water to cool off the equipment. The proposed well would be a backup water source for Microsoft and the area’s residents.
“The location has good water quality and that’s one of the reasons it could be a good site for a well,” said Matt Cano, assistant director of the city’s Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services Department. “Right now, we are considering this as a possibility, but no decision has been made.”
Cano said Iris Chang Park — which sits between Epic Way and Coyote Creek — would be delayed by four to six months if it’s selected as the site for the well.
The San Jose City Council last week approved a special-use permit for Microsoft’s proposed data center on 64 acres northwest of Highway 237 and McCarthy Boulevard. The 376,519-square-foot facility, which is Seattle-based Microsoft’s first project in San Jose, includes six buildings and would employ 40 employees. The company has had a Silicon Valley campus in Mountain View for more than 15 years. But Microsoft has asked that the well be secured before the project moves forward.
“We’ve been having a discussion about water supply in North San Jose for a number of years,” said Nanci Klein, the city’s assistant economic development director. But she acknowledged the issue has become more urgent since Microsoft chose to locate its data center in San Jose, a city that calls itself the “Capital of Silicon Valley” and has sought to lure more technology industry. “You’re seeing more attention now because of Microsoft.”
Chang’s father, Shau-Jin, worries that Iris Chang Park is the easiest choice for a well site because it’s city-owned land. Though North San Jose needs to expand its water supply to support future growth, Chang’s family believes there are better options for Microsoft’s new project.
“They should look into other places they can use — just leave the park alone,” said Shau-Jin Chang.
Several lawmakers have joined the fight to protect Iris Chang Park, urging the city to look elsewhere for the 10-by-20 foot well.
State Assemblyman Kansen Chu, who came up with the idea to name the planned park after Iris Chang when he served on the San Jose City Council, wrote a letter opposing changes that take away land from the park.
“The proposed well at the site of Iris Chang Park would involve redesigning the park with less public space and trees without sufficient outreach to the neighboring communities,” Chu wrote.
The councilman for the district, Lan Diep, says placing the well on Iris Chang Park land should be the last resort.
“I don’t support having it there if there are other options,” Diep said. “But if there are no other options and Iris Chang turns out to be the best spot, I think I’d be open to that.”
The site of the Iris Chang Memorial Park sits across the street from the Epic apartment complex and is adjacent to the Coyote Creek Trail in San Jose, California on Wednesday, November 1, 2017. (LiPo Ching/Bay Area News Group)
Since Iris Chang’s death, her parents have continued her mission of shedding light on the Nanking massacre, which killed 300,000 Chinese civilians and has been called “the Forgotten Holocaust.” By telling historical truths, Chang believed humanity could secure justice for victims and prevent countries from repeating the mistakes of the past.
An elegant memorial hall opened in China last May honoring Chang and her cause. A life-size statue of her sits in the Nanking Massacre Memorial Hall in China. Several movies have been made about her life.
In November 2004, after privately battling depression, Iris Chang drove to an isolated road near Los Gatos and committed suicide. The Chang family hopes the park in North San Jose breaks ground soon — and helps keep their daughter’s courageous legacy alive.
“People remember Iris because she pursued the truth of the history,” said Chang’s mother. “The right-wingers in Japan tried to deny this part of history and she’s the one who told the world what happened in 1937. I think people consider her a champion for truth and courage.”
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