Nearly two years after two dozen volunteers painted a demonstration labyrinth near the Greening Project at Willard Middle School (see photo), the EBLP has won approval from the Waterfront Commission and the Berkeley City Council to install a beautifully crafted paving stone labyrinth at the Berkeley Marina (on the East Lawn of the South Basin across the water from the Pedestrian/Bicycle Bridge). EBLP is now engaged in raising $100,000 for the engineering and construction. Contact Nina AT NinaHam.com or 526-7377 to find out about its monthly labyrinth walks.
For upcoming Peace Walks and other Peace Labyrinth events, be sure to check the BPFP calendar
This year, representatives of the four projects formed a new umbrella organization, the Friends of the Westbrae Commons. The group hosted an exciting party and raffle in August and is working to raise funds to benefit the gardens and greenway. At the end of 2004, the Ohlone Natural and Cultural History Interpretive Exhibit dedicated it’s latest addition, the Ohlone People’s Exhibit. The installation features an artful bench and “Hairpin” sculpture collaboratively designed and built by local and Native American artists. A memorial bench in honor of Karl Linn has been added to the Peralta Garden, and planning is progressing on the future plaza at the corner of Gilman Street and the greenway. For more information call Nicole Becker at 510-798-8148.
BPWA has been busy his year building trails and getting maps out about them….July saw the arrival of a revised 3rd edition of BPWA’s map of Berkeley Pathways, after 12,000 copies of the previous edition had been sold. Due to BPWA efforts, the City of Berkeley won a grant from FEMA for fire-prevention work that went in part to build a stairway over a steep drop-off section of Glendale Path, which, like many of the paths, could be crucial for emergency access during a disaster. The Pathwanders continued to make progress on building several of the unimproved paths with the help of community and student volunteers. Call Charlie Bowen of 
With the recent dedication of the Santa Fe Right of Way (SF ROW) trail north of University, the time is ripe to complete the last 8-block segment of it to the south. BPFP has been a major advocate for this key open space for years. Now the Berkeley Community Gardening Collaborative (BCGC) is working with BPFP to plan for the transformation of SF ROW south to Sacramento and Oregon Streets for a pedestrian/bicycle pathway along with other community-serving activities (such as community gardening and playgrounds). We are conducting a survey in the surrounding blocks to get a picture of what residents would like to see. In early 2006 we’ll be submitting our recommendation to the Parks Commission to initiate the masterplan for this final segment of a multi purpose corridor that will link south Berkeley to the Ohlone Greenway – enabling people to connect all the way to Richmond! Call Beebo Turman of BCGC at 527-3773 for more information, or John Steere at 849-1969 to get involved.