Editorial: Open the gates to the Vietnamese Heritage Garden

Public parks and gardens are designed to draw people closer to nature. They are not meant to be gated and locked to limit access to public spaces. That defeats the purpose of creating these parklands, which is why the entrance to the Vietnamese Heritage Garden should be unlocked.

Within the gated garden is a bronze monument of a South Vietnamese and an American soldier armed and standing beside each other atop rocky terrain in front of flags from both countries. The statue honors  South Vietnamese fighters killed in the Vietnam War and the friendship between South Vietnamese refugees and the U.S.

But this quiet corner of Kelley Park in San Jose has become a flashpoint in the Vietnamese community. Suddenly, a section of the park that should be open to all is raising concerns about who holds the key and has permission to enter. It has splintered residents and upset San Jose officials and state legislators.

The issue erupted when District 7 Councilmember Bien Doan’s office changed the locks and rules for reserving events at the Vietnamese Heritage Garden. Doan said his office would be responsible for reservations and who could use the garden. This decision raised the ire of residents who had been holding flag-raising ceremonies, as well as state lawmakers who questioned who runs the city’s parks. Nothing has changed since then.

Yet despite this rift, the monument offers a moment of reflection: A reminder of the hardships Vietnamese refugees faced, and the strength it took to leave their homeland and settle in America. San Jose has the largest Vietnamese population for a city outside of Vietnam.

Still, residents are asking who’s in charge of this section of Kelley Park. Technically it’s the responsibility of the San Jose Parks and Recreation Department. It’s a city park, which means it belongs to everyone. So why is it locked, when the city’s more than 200 parks are open and accessible? A parks spokesperson said the only locked area in Kelley Park is the Japanese Tea House within the unlocked Japanese gardens. There are also locks on various athletic fields throughout the city.

Parks officials have said the Vietnamese Heritage Garden is locked because the location has been vandalized in the past. A spokesperson said irrigation and electrical systems were tampered with, fencing was cut and flags were stolen. This is what happens when an area sits neglected and ignored for 13 years. The lack of oversight invites vandals. But that hasn’t been the case since the statue was installed in July, and beautiful places that are tended to express joy and don’t encourage vandalism.

The statue is a striking focal point in a barren garden. It could be the first step in awakening and beautifying this section of the park. The location could become a centerpiece for Kelley Park. It’s easy to envision a cultural garden past the stunning gateway entrance. The landscaped garden could be replete with shaded trees, flowers, benches and features that bow to Vietnamese heritage. A tribute to San Jose’s Vietnamese community similar to the park’s Japanese Friendship Garden.

Although the city plans to open the park on weekends starting in October, it could go a step further and open the gate each morning and close it at night. It could slow walk the effort toward unlocking the gate permanently, putting the garden in line with the rest of the park.

The Vietnamese American Roundtable sees the monument as just the beginning of what this garden could be. The group already envisions the full potential of the space and recognizes it as a “vital San Jose civic infrastructure.” But in a rare gesture, it has spoken out against the garden’s politicization.

Time to move forward and begin a conversation about the garden’s future and end the squabbling. And, the first step is unlocking the gate and letting everyone in.

Moryt Milo is an editor at San José Spotlight. Contact Moryt at [email protected] or follow her at @morytmilo on X, formerly known as Twitter. Catch up on her monthly editorials here.