Parks: Veterans Memorial Redesign Plan

Edward Carson Beall’s beautiful proposal to redesign Veterans Memorial Park to include a memorial to Sgt. Vernon Thomas Vanderpool and Capt. Michael Tracy would be a spectacular design for a private estate or Beverly Hills-type city. It does not seem to be at all appropriate for our city.

Veterans Memorial Park in Palos Verdes Estates was the creation of talented landscape architect Hammond Sadler, whose son was one of several young Palos Verdes men who lost their lives during World War II. On a number of occasions in the 1950s, Hammond and I talked about this little park and how it was designed to be a quiet secret garden, a very natural woodland place which would fit gracefully into the city’s “urban forest.”

It is very regrettable that Bunnie Jezewski’s efforts to maintain this park in the spirit of the original designers of our city were accidentally misinterpreted by the families of our tragically martyred officers. Of course Jezewski did not mean that the recently submitted design concepts were too grandiose a memorial for Sgt. Vanderpool and Capt. Tracy.

Nothing could be too grand to honor these wonderful officers. However, the memorial, to be truly beautiful, should be in keeping with the rural natural design of our city. Multiple statuaries, plaques and monuments on our public land could ultimately change the natural look of our city. A bas-relief memorial plaque or statue inside the City Hall would be a highly visible constant reminder of the officers’ bravery and sacrifice to the many citizens, employees and visitors who come to the City Hall.

A more wonderful memorial from my view would be a Vanderpool-Tracy Memorial Forest on one of our barren hillsides or a Vanderpool-Tracy Memorial Parkland along our Margate, Lunada Bay, Resort Point bluff parklands. Paths, low shrubs and colorful ground covers would not only honor our true hero officers, but enhance our property values and be a joy for all.

I think a living memorial would receive a lot of support from Palos Verdes organizations and residents. It would be a constant reminder of Sgt. Vanderpool and Capt. Tracy. It could be the inspiration once a year for a community gardening effort in the European tradition--after which our city was patterned.

JEANE BURKE

Palos Verdes Estates

Burke is a former member of the Palos Verdes Estates Planning Commission.