Park Named for LAPD’s Brewer Is Dedicated

A slice of Exposition Park that was once an asphalt parking lot enclosed by chain-link fence and barbed wire was dedicated Wednesday as Jesse A. Brewer Jr. Park.

City and state officials paid tribute to Brewer, who broke through racial barriers in the Los Angeles Police Department and remained a faithful public servant in a variety of roles throughout his life.

The four-acre park, at Vermont Avenue and Exposition Boulevard, includes barbecue pits, picnic areas and a picturesque white gazebo covered with lush greenery and fuchsia flowers.

“For those of you who didn’t have the pleasure of knowing Jesse Brewer, you are still the beneficiary of his great leadership,” said David Gascon, an LAPD deputy chief.

Assistant Chief Brewer, who died in 1995, was the highest-ranking African American in the Police Department when he retired in 1991 after 39 years of service. He later testified before the Christopher Commission that investigated the LAPD after the Rodney G. King beating. A few days after the commission’s report was published, Brewer was appointed to the five-member Police Commission, the civilian agency charged with oversight of the LAPD. Brewer was eventually named president of the commission.

Brewer was also involved with the California Science Center Board and served on the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission.

After listening to accolades about her husband and accepting plaques from the City Council, the state Assembly and a representative from Gov. Pete Wilson’s administration, Brewer’s widow, Odessa, stepped slowly to the microphone.

“Now you know why Jesse has always been my hero, my soldier of fortune,” she said. One of the couple’s three sons, Kenneth, sat next to her on the stage.

The park’s creation and dedication were part of the $10-million first phase of the Exposition Park Master Plan, an attempt to make the 160-acre park more community-friendly. That work will be completed in several phases at a cost of $350 million, said Jeffrey N. Rudolph, executive director of the California Science Center.

“Ten years ago, we began working on the development of a master plan for Exposition Park,” Rudolph said. “It’s been a long time we’ve been working on this. A lot of people didn’t believe . . . it would ever come to fruition.”

“Jesse was always there, not just to represent the Coliseum on the committee, but always to ensure that we thought about all the residents of the community,” Rudolph said.

The California Science Center oversaw development of the plan, which was based upon comments from neighbors, park tenants and community organizations and received the American Institute of Architects Urban Design Award of Excellence.

“Exposition Park is experiencing a renaissance and it’s well on its way to becoming one of the country’s great urban parks,” said City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas. “Central Park in New York, Balboa Park in San Diego, or even Griffith Park right here in Los Angeles--frankly, they do not offer the range of educational and cultural resources we have right here in Exposition Park.”

In addition to the Science Center, Exposition Park encompasses the California African American Museum, the Museum of Natural History of Los Angeles County, the Memorial Coliseum and a regional recreation center.

Jesse A. Brewer Jr. Park will be open to the public starting Saturday.

On Wednesday, parking lots were full of yellow school buses that had brought students to visit the museums in Exposition Park.

“When you see school buses, you know some young person is having an experience . . . and they’re having an experience that makes them stronger,” said Tom LaBonge, special assistant to Mayor Richard Riordan. “Doing things for children makes life better for the future of Los Angeles.”