Flash! Santa Monica's parkland has just increased by seven per cent, including two new soccer fields!

The Council certified the final Environmental Impact Report and approved design plans for Airport Park, covering 8.3 acres of non-aviation land located within the Santa Monica Airport property. The plan calls for two lighted sports fields, a picnic area, children's playground, off-leash dog area, a park restroom building, a walking and jogging path, and onsite parking for 116 vehicles. The park is fully funded at $5.4 million. Construction is expected to begin in spring 2005 with completion anticipated in summer 2006.

Our purchase of 11.3 acres of former RAND property between City Hall and the Santa Monica Pier opens up new possibilities!

Parks give us and our Santa Monica neighborhoods room to breathe. In 1997 the city did its first major review of parks in two decades, and now at last we're taking action.

Parks are for playfields and recreation, but they're also spaces for quiet time and remembering we are of the earth, not just of the city. Santa Monica's blessed with the beach and the bay, but some of our neighborhoods have no local parkland (see map). Is it fair to ask a child or a senior to walk over half a mile to the nearest park?

The excellent work that went into the Recreation and Parks Master Plan and accompanying Open Space Element must not be wasted. We need to set aside money to buy appropriate land as it becomes available.

We need more parks.

Want to suggest a possible site?