Dodgers Foundation Breaks Ground on Two Ballfields at Fire-Damaged Farnsworth Park

Work begins Thursday, November 5, on two new Dodgers Dreamfields at Charles S. Farnsworth Park in Altadena, with a groundbreaking ceremony for the $1.4 million baseball and softball restoration project.

Supervisor Kathryn Barger, LA County Parks and the Los Angeles County Parks Foundation will mark the start of the park’s restoration with a 10 a.m. program and light refreshments, followed by the Dodgers Dreamfields groundbreaking at 11 a.m. The groundbreaking is expected to include a shovel dedication and a brief program with Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation leaders, county parks representatives and project sponsors.

The project is a partnership between the foundation and the county Department of Parks and Recreation following the Eaton Fire, which damaged the park in January 2025 and destroyed its Davies Community Center. The fields will be the foundation’s 69th and 70th Dreamfields, planned for baseball and softball programs for children ages 5 to 12 and recreational access for youths and teenagers through age 18.

Planned work includes new irrigation, upgraded playing surfaces, fencing, shade structures and solar-powered hexagonal scoreboards modeled after those at UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium. A science, technology, engineering and mathematics trail will link the park’s upper and lower fields and use the foundation’s Science of Baseball curriculum.

The foundation said its plans followed community listening sessions with the Community Coalition for Altadena Recovery, Central Altadena Little League and other local leaders. Nichol McKenzie-Whiteman, the foundation’s CEO, said the fields build on its Altadena work, “creating a safe, welcoming space where the community can gather and flourish.” As of September, the foundation had invested more than $21.3 million since 2003 to refurbish 68 fields, giving more than 413,000 young people access to baseball and softball facilities.

Organizers recommend arriving by 9:45 a.m. and wearing walking shoes; only street parking is available. When the fields are finished, the county will oversee maintenance, reservations, scheduling, permits and programming. In November 2025, Supervisor Kathryn Barger announced $5 million for a planned reflection garden and $4.1 million for broader Farnsworth Park improvements.

Charles S. Farnsworth Park groundbreaking ceremony will run on Thursday, November 5 at 10 a.m. to noon. Charles S. Farnsworth Park, 568 E. Mt. Curve Ave., Altadena.