BURBANK : City Requests Funds for Proposed Park

Burbank has applied for federal funds to turn an empty lot at the corner of Peyton and Grismer avenues into a park.

The city has asked for up to $100,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds for fencing, a playground, irrigation and other improvements to the lot, Burbank Parks and Recreation Director Mary Alvord said. The lot is only a block from McCambridge Park, but would provide a critical role as a smaller, more convenient play area for parents in nearby apartments.

Children from adjoining apartment buildings could play in the park without having to cross busy intersections, making it ideal as a “neighborhood tot lot,” Alvord said.

“McCambridge would draw 400 for a company picnic; that’s not what this park will do,” Alvord said. “This wouldn’t even hold that many people.”

The lot, made up of five parcels totaling 23,200 square feet, was bought by the city in 1986 to be used as low- and moderate-income housing. Four years ago, the city decided to leave it as open green space, said Donald Warner, Burbank’s real estate and property manager.

“I’ve driven by a number of times and see that people there are using it,” Alvord said. Although the lot has nothing but grass and trees, residents already give it moderate to heavy use, she said.