San Gabriel : Mission District Spruce-Up

To help spruce up the Mission District around the Civic Center and the San Gabriel Mission, a citizen’s committee has organized a fund-raising effort to pay for improvements such as benches, bike racks and trees.

“It’s an idea whose time has come,” said Al Baker, one of the committee members who hopes $60,000 can be raised to pay for 250 trees to line the streets around the mission, City Hall and the San Gabriel Civic Auditorium.

A donation of $100 will pay for a tree, such as a jacaranda, and $500 will buy a palm. There will be small plaques on trees to note the names of individual donors, Baker said. More than $3,000 has been raised, Baker said.

“We want to leave a legacy of lasting beauty,” he said. “And that area could use some beauty.”