Council President Herb Wesson (center) is joined by residents and community stakeholders at the West Adams Heights Park Ground Breaking. (Sentinel File Photo)
Citing the need for more open space and recreational opportunities for neighborhoods, City Council President Herb Wesson was joined by a wide array of community residents and stakeholders at the ground breaking for the new West Adams Heights Park.
Located at Normandie Avenue and Cordova Street, the new park will be part of the “50 Parks Initiative” of the city’s Department of Recreation and Parks. The goal of the program is to increase the number of parks in Los Angeles with a specific focus on densely populated neighborhoods and communities that lack sufficient open space and recreational services
“We have too many neighborhoods where there are no parks and virtually no open space,” said Wesson. “I am pleased that the city has had the vision to seize on opportunities like this to make a difference for our residents.”
The park is being designed and developed by the city’s Department of Recreation and Parks, and LANI, the Los Angeles Neighborhoods Initiative organization, which has extensive experience in such projects in Los Angeles.
Among those joining Council President Wesson at the event were Joyce Perkins, founder of LANI and current LANI Board Member, Jon Mukri, general manager of the Department of Recreation and Parks, and members of the West Adams Heights—Sugar Hill Neighborhood Association., who worked with the Department of Recreation and Parks and LANI to include design elements wanted and needed by the community.
West Adams Heights is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Los Angeles, with most of its buildings erected between 1899 and 1925. Once a community of considerable wealth, it was known as “The Heights.” When African Americans arrived in the 1930s, it became known as “Sugar Hill.”
