Airport-area land purchased by city 77 years ago
Only a few details remain to be hammered out before designs are complete for a long-awaited 8.3-acre park in southeast Santa Monica.
Called the Airport Park, the space will have two lighted youth soccer fields, a one-acre dog area, separate picnic area, children’s playground, paved path, restrooms and 116 parking spaces.
The City Council last week unanimously approved the project. Council members said they are thrilled to see plans for the park, which will increase the city’s amount of open space by 7 percent, finally move forward.
Because of budget constraints, construction on the project, which is expected to cost nearly $7 million, isn’t scheduled to begin until the spring of 2005. But that delay hasn’t softened the enthusiasm of local officials.
“It’s very exciting. I feel like I’m really lucky because during this term we’ve really begun to expand,” said Mayor Richard Bloom, who pointed to recent efforts by City Hall to increase and improve open space in Santa Monica, including the Virginia Avenue Park expansion, another small park at the old MGM building site on 26th Street and upgrades to existing parks.
Plans for the park, which will sit on land directly adjacent to the Santa Monica Airport, have been in the works for more than six years.
But community members have had plans for the land to be used as open space for a lot longer than that. Back in 1926, residents agreed the space should be used as a park and City Hall purchased the land, City Councilman Mike Feinstein said.
Federal guidelines governing open space later changed, allowing the airport to be built on the land, Feinstein added.
While officials wait for the economy to recover so the money needed to fund the ongoing operation of the park and make improvements to the surrounding streets becomes available, city staff is examining a few options.
One of the more contentious question marks is whether to use artificial turf on the playing fields, a change that would cost City Hall another $1 million. Mayor Bloom said he supports using artificial turf because it would allow more people to trample over the fields, while reducing repair costs and saving water.
But Feinstein and Councilman Kevin McKeown both expressed reservations about using an artificial surface, saying it would increase injuries, separate those that can afford special shoes from those who cannot and send the wrong message to the community about manipulating the natural environment.
Another issue that will be discussed further is whether to include an art element at the park. Barbara Stinchfield, director of the community and cultural services department at City Hall, said the project wasn’t given an arts component because of the limited amount of resources and greater need in other areas.
Finally, city staff will examine alternatives to the wood chips placed over the ground in the off-leash dog area. Councilman Herb Katz, one of 5,000 registered dog owners in Santa Monica, said the chips are a choking hazard and they camouflage dog waste.
Katz also said he had hoped the park would include an underground parking structure because of the growing demand for parking in Santa Monica. But because the cost would be approximately $6 million, City Manager Susan McCarthy said staff was opposed to including it at this time.
Without the parking garage and assuming budget projections don’t worsen, construction of the park should be complete in the summer of 2006.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 20, 2003. Read the original PDF.