Veterans Win Long Battle for Plaza Project

After 19 years, six project revisions and two more wars, Simi Valley expects to see completion of its park to honor military veterans next year.

The Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District is set to begin construction shortly after New Year’s Day and plans to finish by Veterans Day. The project will provide the finishing touches to four acres of Rancho Tapo Community Park, commonly known as Lemon Park.

“It’s going to be a wonderful, wonderful part of Simi Valley because we have a lot of veterans here,” said Navy veteran Dick Hlebasko, past commander of Simi Valley VFW Post 1049 and a member of the post’s color guard.

Hlebasko, 76, a veteran of World War II, has joined his fellow veterans in pushing the district to complete the project.

“I don’t know how many years I’ve got left,” Hlebasko joked. “How much longer am I going to be around to fight these guys?”

Project Will Improve Youth Facilities Too

The park project, which was delayed for years by revisions, was able to get underway after the district received a $500,000 bequest from Army Col. Patricia Murphy for youth activities, said Colleen Janssen, supervisor for marketing and volunteers for the park district.

When completed, the park--roughly bordered by Avenida Simi on the north, Lemon Drive on the west and the civic center on the east--will include a variety of features.

The district will build a lighted roller hockey rink behind the Boys & Girls Club at the southwest corner of the park, as well as a sand volleyball court. The park also will have four lighted tennis courts, a snack bar, basketball courts, a picnic shelter, a 200-seat amphitheater and an interactive kids play pool.

A veterans plaza will account for $1.5 million of the $2.8-million project, Janssen said. The plaza will feature a reflecting pond with spray jets and cascading water, along with benches and a footpath.

“It’s meant to be a place where people can just sit, relax in the park,” she said.

The center of the plaza will include a POW/MIA flag and flags of the five military services.

A stenciled railing separating the plaza from the pond will list wars from the American Revolution to Desert Storm and beyond, Janssen said. The railing also will list the years of the wars and their cost in lives and dollars. A quote will accompany each notation.

“The veterans are going to help us choose one quote for each time period,” she said.

The park district will hold competitions to determine the design of two sculptures, one for the center of the plaza and one planned as a 36-foot-long metal wall.

“I am totally, totally pleased that veterans are finally going to get their true reward,” Hlebasko said. “I like the whole concept. It’s going to bring people out to enjoy it.”

Stone markers at each entrance to the plaza will bear the names of up to 960 veterans.

Anyone who contributes $125 or more to the project can get a name placed on the markers. The designee does not have to be deceased or a Simi Valley resident, Janssen said. Non-veterans will be honored in another area of the plaza.

The district already has about 300 name slots filled, including two donated in honor of veterans who died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The donors “don’t even know these people,” Janssen said. “They just wanted to do something.”

Name Markers a Way to Show Gratitude

Judy Slattery of Simi Valley and her sister, Karen French of Iowa, purchased plaques for their parents, Herman and Audene Koster of West Hills.

“We didn’t want to do it after they passed away,” Slattery said. “We gave it to them for their birthdays.”

Herman Koster served in the Army in Korea, while “my mom was in the army of mothers,” Slattery said.

“It’s just a way for us to show our thanks and our gratitude for absolutely everything they’ve done for us,” she said. “They’re our support, our strength. We couldn’t have asked for better parents.”

FYI

For information about the park or how to purchase a $125 marker, contact Colleen Janssen at 584-4453.