Park in south Glendale officially opens

SOUTH GLENDALE — It took one year and $4.7 million to bring the new Cerritos Park on San Fernando Road from the drawing board to reality, and for city officials who celebrated its grand opening Thursday, the timing could not have been better.

As city and school district officials descended on the park next to Cerritos Elementary School for the opening ceremony, one thing was clear — what was once a used car lot and service station is now a political gold nugget.

Calling the park’s opening a citywide milestone in how city officials address the park deficiencies in south Glendale, Mayor Ara Najarian told the crowd in dark suits and Cerritos Elementary school uniforms that the City Council’s recent commitment to acquiring more park space through development impact fees and an allotment of tax increment funds would provide millions more for future parks.

“Where’s Joni Mitchell when you need her?” he said.

Cerritos Park, at 3690 San Fernando, is the largest mini park in Glendale at 59,500 square feet. It includes a parking lot off South Glendale Avenue and a playground with two play structures — one that is 24 feet tall and resembles a rocket shuttle. It also incorporates a small rock climbing wall and two slides.

The play structures are surrounded with a sponge-like rubberized surface and are enclosed with benches and picnic tables under shade canopies before giving way to a large grass field, which takes up most of the park.

While a gate will give Cerritos Elementary access during school hours under proper supervision, the park will still be open to the public, city parks director George Chapjian said.

As Audien Camacho sat waiting for the ceremony to start, she and other moms of students at Cerritos Elementary said they were happy the park was finally opening so their children would stop asking about it.

“He’s been desperate for the park to open,” Camacho said of her 9-year-old son.

It’s a conviction that has taken hold at City Hall, with the City Council in September passing a development impact fee schedule that is forecast to generate $37 million to $111 million, 90% of which would go toward acquiring or expanding park space and facilities.

And on Tuesday, the City Council passed a motion to draft a resolution that would allot a certain percentage of the tax increments generated in the city’s two redevelopment zones — Central and San Fernando Road Corridor — to libraries and parkland acquisition.

Glendale Unified School District officials joined their City Hall counterparts Thursday in calling for continuing the momentum of joint park facilities beyond Cerritos Park.

“It truly does mark a great opportunity for folks in south Glendale,” Supt. Michael Escalante said.

A $23.7-million modernization project at Columbus Elementary School on Milford Street between Pacific and Columbus avenues should free up enough space for a soccer field that the city could develop with the proper funding, Escalante said.

That $3.5-million proposal — which would include artificial turf, restrooms and maybe lighting — would be heavily dependent on capital-improvement funding, a priority determined by the City Council, Chapjian said.

Using existing green space at schools — and the opportunity to create it — is a concept that Councilman Frank Quintero has advocated for years, and hailed Cerritos Park as a model for what could be a cost-effective and quick way to provide more parkland for south Glendale.

“It’s not so complicated — you fence off the actual classrooms and green out the rest of the campus,” Quintero said. “I hope we can continue to do them throughout the city of Glendale.”

The City Council will continue its discussion of setting funding priorities for about $30 million in capital-improvement funds for about 40 city projects — among them the Columbus soccer field and several other public park facilities — at a special meeting at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday in City Council chambers, 613 E. Broadway.

 JASON WELLS covers City Hall. He may be reached at (818) 637-3235 or by e-mail at jason.wells@latimes.com.