Cerritos School Park gets thumbs up

Gary Moskowitz

By late 2005, people driving into the south end of Glendale will

likely be greeted by a “Welcome to Glendale” sign posted in front of

almost an acre of open park space.

The city will spend about $1.6 million in combined Community

Development Block Grant funds and capital-improvement funds on the

Cerritos School Park, which will be a joint-use park for residents

and the Glendale Unified School District.

The park will be built at the south side of Cerritos Elementary

School, 120 E. Cerritos Ave. The project would begin in April 2005

and be completed a few months later.

Mayor Bob Yousefian, at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, said he

thought Community Development Block Grant funds should be given to

local nonprofit organizations, not the park project. However, he

voted to approve the project’s funds because the money was already

designated and could not be reallocated.

“For them to come and even apply for [Community Development Block

Grant] money, I think that was kind of low-class for them to do,”

Yousefian said Wednesday. “I don’t hold any animosities with the

school district, and I know they have shortcomings with money, but

they could come up with the money somewhere else. The state recently

passed Proposition 55 and our citizens passed Measure K a few years

ago.”

About $36 million in Proposition 55 funds will go toward

modernization projects at six Glendale schools that have not been

started, not toward the Cerritos project, said Steve Hodgson, the

district’s chief business and financial officer.

“We think this will be a wonderful project that will be a terrific

asset to the community, because that is an underserved area of the

city,” Hodgson said.

The new park will provide a more aesthetically pleasing entry

point for the city and offer much-needed park space, said George

Balteria, park development coordinator for Glendale’s Parks,

Recreation & Community Services.

“Open park space is so limited down there, so anything we can

provide in that area I think will be appreciated,” Balteria said.

“Studies were done in 2000 that identified the lack of park space in

south Glendale. [The park] will be one of the first things people see

when they come around the corner into the city, and will be a nice

entry point.”

Glendale Unified budgeted part of the park project into its

Cerritos Elementary School construction and modernization project,

which is costing about $15 million in mostly Measure K funds and

began in 2000. Measure K is a voter-approved, $186-million

facilities improvement bond passed in 1997.

The city is primarily handling the design and construction aspects

of the project, while the school district’s primary responsibility is

funding the addition of a new parking lot that will serve the school

and the community, officials said.

The park will include restrooms, a shelter area and storage space

for recreation programs, an interactive water play area, picnic

tables, benches, fencing, lights and a basketball court, Balteria

said.

A 722-square-foot empty office and a 1,700-square-foot automotive

repair building occupy the property now, along with a parking lot

that is not open to public use. Agajanian Group Enterprises owns both

properties, and the city has been unable to negotiate a sale price

with the owner. The city filed eminent domain papers to condemn the

property in August, said Gillian van Muyden, an assistant city

attorney.