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By Lookout Staff
April 25 -- For the first time in 24 years, Santa
Monica will open its first new City park with a kick-off celebration
Sunday that will showcase sprawling stretches of artificial
turf, a walking track and a place where dogs run free.
Part of a $142-million 20-year effort to improve and expand
open space, the park encompasses 8.3 acres at the northwest
corner of Bundy Drive and Airport Avenue on the south side
of the Santa Monica Airport.
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| Open lawn |
The park will boast Santa Monica's fourth off-leash dog park,
a walking and jogging track and nearly three acres of synthetic
turf for sports, including a state-of-the-art soccer field
with 80-foot-tall non-glare lighting standards with shielded
lamps.
The park also includes a children’s playground, informal
open space and picnic areas with six barbecues and restroom
and storage facilities.
Designed by ah’bé landscape architects in Culver
City, the park incorporates numerous sustainable techniques
and features that address storm water management, landscape
planting and irrigation.
Infiltration beds under the sports field will detain storm
water from portions of the airport and the park, improving
the City’s storm water management. The parking lots
are paved in permeable asphalt pavement for storm-water retention,
and an Infiltration system in the dog park captures water.
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| Lawn |
The kick off celebration will take place Sunday from 1 to
4 p.m. and will feature music from the Belle Air Brass, treats
from Typhoon Restaurant and the Spitfire Grill, soccer fun
and skill challenges.
There will also be a Walk Santa Monica activity around the
park’s loop path and a dog obedience demonstration near
the off-leash dog area. Dog owners who wish to bring their
pets must have a registered Santa Monica dog license.
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| Picnic area |
A second park, the 0.45-acre Euclid Park on Euclid Street
between Colorado Avenue and Broadway is set to open in mid-June.
Airport Park is served by Big Blue Bus Line 14 and is wheelchair
accessible. Automobile parking for the event will be available
just south of the new park on the Santa Monica College Bundy
Campus (the entrance is on South Bundy Drive).
For disability-related accommodation requests, or to request
this information in alternate format, please call 458-8310
or TTY: 458-8696. More information is available at www.smgov.net/airportpark
or by calling (310) 458-8310.
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