Palisades Park Renovation Wins Award

By Teresa Rochester

For almost a year, construction crews overhauled Palisades Park, installing a jogging path, a Veteran's Memorial, a wood-plank overlook at Inspiration Point and new restrooms and fencing. This week the hard work paid off.

The renovation of the 108-year-old park has won the Royce Neuschatz Award for Historic Landscapes from the Los Angeles Conservancy, a non-profit organization dedicated to recognizing, preserving and revitalizing the architectural and cultural heritage of Los Angeles.

"We're very happy to receive it," said Brett Horner, senior administrative analyst in parks and open space planning. "It's [the renovation] actually phase 2 of a master plan put in place in 1991."

Palisades Park will be the only landscaped space honored when the conservancy presents the awards at a ceremony on May 3 at the Regal Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. The seven other awards will go to buildings.

The LA Conservancy noted that "the city's careful rehabilitation project preserves, enhances and highlights the traces of Santa Monica's history throughout the park, while providing for new irrigation and drainage, park furniture, lighting, planting and restrooms."

The 14-block long park opened in 1892 and features the Rose Garden, Pergola, craftsman-era stone gates, Camera Obscura and the Senior Center.

The park's renovation was part of a $9 million beach improvement project that extends from Arizona Avenue to Inspiration Point. The project was funded though a combination of city money and Los Angeles County's Safe Neighborhood Park Act.