Westwood Gardens Park to undergo renovations by end of summer

The Westwood Gardens Park south of Wilshire Avenue is planned to undergo renovations by the end of this summer, adding exercise equipment, a playground, picnic tables and other enhancements.

The new park on Glendon Avenue will also include trees that provide shade, a shade structure and a water fountain, according to the Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation’s visualization of the proposal.

The Department of Parks and Recreation is currently finalizing the plan for the estimated $400,000 remodel, which they hope to finish by June, said Rose Watson, a department spokesperson. After that, the project will be pitched to a select list of contractors, she added.

The Quimby Program, a fund that collects money from local developers for public park use in the surrounding area, is set to cover the cost of the changes, said Linda Blank, vice president of the Westwood Homeowners Association and a member of the Westwood Community Council.

The park enhancements have been requested by community members since the Department of Parks and Recreation began its outreach for the park in June 2012, Watson said.

“The community came back at large asking for some enhancements with the park to make it more active,” she said.

In 2010, the city council bought the parking lot adjacent to the Westwood Branch Library for $2 million, Blank said.

The original park plan received complaints from some neighbors who thought the park would attract too much activity, Blank said. A different plan was later constructed and has since accrued some complaints from neighbors about its lack of shade and the number of homeless people who spend time in it, she added.

“(The current park has) been really a wasteland for all intents and purposes since it was done,” Blank said. “Right now it’s fairly ugly.”

The Westwood Homeowners Association and the Department of Parks and Recreation held meetings over a potential remodeling as long as two years ago but only finalized a plan in December, Blank said.

“We finally were able to push them to begin to actively redo the plans and be more specific about what they were going to provide,” she said. “We are finally at the point where we are going to move forward and actually get it done.”

Michele Patterson, a 20-yearlong Westwood resident, said she thinks there is nothing to do in the current park and that the Department of Parks and Recreation should better maintain the park.

Not all residents, however, said they think the renovation is necessary.

“It’s a nice place if you want to read a book now,” said Sam Ostergaard who has lived in Westwood for a year. “I don’t think an exercise area necessarily makes sense.”

The Department of Parks and Recreation plans to have the park finished by the end of this summer, Watson said.