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Altadena Library: Oct. 3 Groundbreaking at Fire-Damaged Charles White Park

Supervisor Kathryn Barger's office said in November 2025 that $10.5 million, including $5 million from The Walt Disney Co., had been secured for the park's reconstruction

Published on Friday, September 25, 2026 | 4:48 am
 

[photo credit: LA County]
A groundbreaking for Charles White Park, one of the Altadena parks damaged in the Eaton Fire, is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 3, according to a community update the Altadena Library District emailed Sept. 23.

The listing sets the event for 10 a.m. to noon at the park, 77 Mountain View St., but does not name an organizer or describe the program. In November 2025, the office of Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said a $5 million contribution from The Walt Disney Co. brought the total secured for the park’s reconstruction to $10.5 million, with groundbreaking planned for spring 2026.

Charles White Park is a five-acre county park between Glenrose and Fair Oaks avenues in unincorporated Altadena. It sits just off Fair Oaks Avenue near the Pasadena-Altadena border, Variety reported.

Disney, which described the park as destroyed in the fire, said it is directing $5 million to the park’s reopening as part of a $15 million commitment to Los Angeles wildfire recovery. The remaining $5.5 million comes from the State of California, CBS News Los Angeles reported.

According to Disney, the rebuilt park will include a new community center, an enhanced playground, play areas inspired by Altadena’s Deodar Cedar pinecones, a splash pad, bridges, boulders, slides, swings and a new amphitheater. Disney said portions of the park that survived the fire will be preserved.

SALT Landscape Architects, based in Los Angeles, is redesigning the park, and Disney Imagineers and the community design firm KDI are collaborating on a new playground, Landscape Architecture Magazine reported in May. The magazine reported that the first part of SALT’s earlier redesign, new playground equipment and shade structures, opened in June 2024, and that the park, including the new playground, was consumed by the Eaton Fire in January 2025.

Daniel Abratte, section head of the county Parks and Recreation Department’s capital projects group, told the magazine that a half dozen soil tests show no additional remediation is needed.

The park was built in 1980 and named after Charles White, whom the county describes as one of the most celebrated and influential African American artists of the twentieth century and who lived in Altadena in his later years.

“Having a place and space for gathering with friends and neighbors to exchange ideas and share reflections is incredibly meaningful, as our community has been spread across the Los Angeles County area due to the devastating and tragic Eaton Fire,” Ian White, the artist’s son, said in Disney’s November 2025 announcement.

“Altadena’s parks are the heart of this community, so securing strong partnerships is essential for the thousands of displaced Eaton Fire survivors eager to reconnect,” Barger said in her office’s announcement.

Disney has said the park’s reopening is anticipated in 2026, and Landscape Architecture Magazine reported in May that the entire revamped park is expected to reopen by the end of 2026.

NEED TO KNOW: Charles White Park groundbreaking. Saturday, Oct. 3, 10 a.m. to noon. Charles White Park, 77 Mountain View St., Altadena. Park information: https://parks.lacounty.gov/charles-white-park/

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