Altadena’s Loma Alta Park Reopens

Altadena took a major step forward on Saturday when Loma Alta Park reopened just less than five months after significant renovations due to damage caused by the Eaton Fire.

“After the trauma of the Eaton Fire, having a space to reconnect, rebuild relationships, and support one another is incredibly important,” said LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents Altadena and Pasadena.

“Parks like Loma Alta help restore not only our physical surroundings, but our sense of belonging. Social connection is essential to recovery, and this reopening is a meaningful step forward for Altadena.”

Parts of the park were damaged by one of the deadliest fires in the state’s history. At least eighteen people were killed in the Eaton Fire in January.

The fire also destroyed 9,400 buildings and scorched 14,000 acres.

A FireAid benefit concert provided a grant of $2.4 million to help rebuild the two fire-damaged playgrounds as part of their “Symbols of Hope” grant program.

The park now includes a pair of Dodger Dreamfields, a renovated gym and basketball courts funded by the LA Clippers Foundation, which will offer a Jr. Clippers Basketball Program for Altadena youth.

The Clippers Foundation also funded a new computer lab and tech center.

The park also now includes a satellite senior center and library, after-school programming for kids 5-12 and a Tiny Tots program for kids 3-4, mental health services and an Our SPOT Teen Center.

The park’s swimming pool was also renovated.

Volunteers planted 44 trees, 32 tree seedlings and 818 plants at the park, and spread 50,000 square feet of mulch.

“We are a community,” said Mark Mariscal. “Our political leaders came together very quickly, our government employees came together quickly. Our private funders came together real quickly.”

Murals were also painted throughout the park, including work by local artists Victor Ving, Eric Junker, Ryan Burch and Katie Chrishanthi Sunderalingam.

In March, Director of LA County Parks Norma Edith García-Gonzalez said the process to build a new park typically takes 18 months, but due to the efforts of state and County officials the time shrank down to just two months.

Some residents have publicly questioned whether resources might be better directed toward housing needs and private property remediation that affects their daily lives.

“We’re out here letting them know that the community of Altadena all belong here, including renters, the seniors, the Black and brown community members who feel like they have been abandoned,” said Heavenly Hughes of My TRIBE Rise.

The group asked Barger to meet with them to discuss their concerns at a block party on June 1 to discuss immediate direct cash assistance for fire survivors in crisis without burdensome bureaucratic processes, safe and stable housing solutions for displaced residents still living in precarious conditions, an immediate rent freeze and eviction moratorium to protect Altadena renters and affordable housing initiatives and robust protections against predatory developers.

“We want to have conversations about those whose needs have not been met.”