(April 29, 2011) Saturday, April 23rd, Councilman James Johnson led a small group of community leaders on a tour of apx. 50 acres of city property known by many as the "Sports Park" site and he refers to as "California Gardens." Councilman Johnson's vision is for a regional park that includes rolling hills and natural walking paths. To view a video of his comments, click here.
Councilman Johnson describes the vision for the park to interested community leaders taking the tour. To view video click image.
Larry Rich, with Councilman Johnson, discussed the site in relation to the history of Long Beach. To view video click image.
Larry Rich joined Councilman Johnson and provided background information on the history of the site. Rich, Sustainability Coordinator for the City, described himself as a "student of Long Beach history and geography and of this spot in particular."
According to Rich, in 1882 the springs on the site were used to pipe water to Willmore City, the original townsite of Long Beach and was a significant water source for he city until 1930. To learn more of the history of the site, view the video of his comments. Click here.
The tour group proceeded up the road to the area of the original springs on the site. Marked by willow trees, the site of the original springs is now used by the City to store mulch from local tree trimming that is used in the "Mulch A Lot" program. Wild flowers, especially daisys, were abundant on the site.
Click to Enlarge.
Click to Enlarge.
The second stop on the tour was the County stormwater detention basin.
During the recent storms, the basin was full of stormwater runoff according to Larry Rich. To view the video of his discussion of the basin and how it works, click here.
Leaving the area of the detention basin, the tour continued to the top of the hill, overlooking the City and the ports. Further description of the site revealed that portions of the hills are natural. But, some are the result of using the site for dredge material from the Alamitos Bay area, explaining why sea shells were found by tour participant Paul Eakins.
Tour members listen to presentation about the detention basin. To view video click image.
Click to Enlarge
Click to Enlarge.
Click to Enlarge.
Other tour participants included Councilman Patrick O'Donnell, Connie Sziebl, Jerry Schubel, Albert Guerra, Laurie Angel, Samara Ashley, Dan Pressburg and about 10 other residents intersted in the project.
