Pocket Park

It may be only a pocket park, but Pickens Canyon Park ? the official Foothill Boulevard gateway to the Crescenta Valley ? got a gigantic welcome Wednesday morning as more than 50 residents and dignitaries gathered for a formal dedication of the 3,800-square-foot lot along the east side of the Pickens Canyon Channel. ?It?s not about quantity, it?s about quality,? said Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, who presented certificates to several community members and dignitaries involved in the creation of the park.

It took a stroke of genius for park-starved Glendale to turn an unused alley linking a city parking lot into a pocket park. The 4,500-square-foot Chess Park is a space devoted to its namesake, with five illuminated oversized chess pieces standing guard over the 16 concrete tables. Glendale residents may not think much of the park, but as is sometimes the case, people don’t always appreciate the jewels they have in our own backyards. The park came to my attention through a modern and well-respected architectural magazine.

Buck Wargo CITY HALL -- The Glendale Redevelopment Agency approved spending $3.6 million Tuesday for the Department of Public Social Services building at 225 E. Broadway and three lots used as parking for the former welfare office. The purchase has been in the works for years, and the city had set aside Redevelopment Agency funds for the purchase. The county formally opened its new welfare office Nov. 13 at 4680 San Fernando Road. The county had outgrown the former Fidelity Federal Bank building, where asbestos walls prevented installing new computers.

The Board of Supervisors has approved the spending of $154,000 in funds for improvements at Crescenta Valley Park, one of two county recreation facilities in the community. The money is part of $920,000 in excess funds from a 1996 state bond act. The money has been allocated to projects in the 5th Supervisorial District. The work at the park is slated to be completed by summer, and will include new picnic tables and barbecues, upgrades in restrooms and parking lot lights, re-roofing of the recreation building, improved drinking fountains and other improvements.

We all need a little beauty in our lives In response to Bruce K. Gibson’s question last week, “How much money was spent on this sad excuse for a park and why?” (Our Readers Write, March 7). Why? Because whether one physically uses the park or not, I think we can all use a little beauty in our lives. Why bother putting up an attractive building or nice landscaping or pleasant signage or anything nice in our community? Because people who care about our community wanted to see something in that spot other than a weed lot, or worse yet, a parking lot. I personally drive by this corner several times a day, depositing my children at their respective schools, and I am thrilled to see something so thoughtful and attractive at the entrance to my neighborhood.

“It has become an absolutely politicized issue, and a phony one at that.” — Councilman John Drayman on Glendale Unified School District Board of Education President Greg Krikorian’s earlier call for more cooperation and collaboration between the two government bodies.   “We’re here tonight because there’s a new City Council sitting on the dais. There’s no way the old City Council would have touched this.

The City Council this week approved plans for two large projects, including one that will fill a lot in the heart of Glendale that has sat vacant for more than two decades. But it was the other project in the southern part of the city that proved to be more contentious. That project, which was approved with a 3-2 vote, will be built on a 2.18-acre triangular site that borders three major streets - Los Feliz Road, Central Avenue and San Fernando Road. In its most recent proposal, Houston-based developer Camden USA Inc. added 58 apartments and an extra floor to the structure, bringing the total number of apartments to 287. The project was originally approved in October 2011 with five stories and 229 units, 11 of which would have been low-income units.

CRESCENTA VALLEY — New picnic tables and barbecues are just some of the improvements in store for Crescenta Valley Park after Supervisor Michael Antonovich announced Tuesday that the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to allocate about $150,000 to improve the recreation area. "Our responsibility is to keep our parks in a condition that is conducive for the public to use," Antonovich said. The windfall is part of nearly $1 million from Proposition A funds that is being distributed to parks around the county.

It took a stroke of genius for park-starved Glendale to turn an unused alley linking a city parking lot into a pocket park. The 4,500-square-foot Chess Park is a space devoted to its namesake, with five illuminated oversized chess pieces standing guard over the 16 concrete tables. Glendale residents may not think much of the park, but as is sometimes the case, people don’t always appreciate the jewels they have in our own backyards. The park came to my attention through a modern and well-respected architectural magazine.

It may be only a pocket park, but Pickens Canyon Park ? the official Foothill Boulevard gateway to the Crescenta Valley ? got a gigantic welcome Wednesday morning as more than 50 residents and dignitaries gathered for a formal dedication of the 3,800-square-foot lot along the east side of the Pickens Canyon Channel. ?It?s not about quantity, it?s about quality,? said Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, who presented certificates to several community members and dignitaries involved in the creation of the park.