By JULIANNA LOZADA PUBLISHED: June 8, 2024 at 4:15 p.m. | UPDATED: June 9, 2024 at 10:45 a.m.
Residents celebrated the grand opening of San Gabriel River Park in Avocado Heights Saturday morning, June 8, with renewed hopes of bringing more park space to a region in dire need of it.
Echoing a theme of “Rewilding Urban Spaces,” Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis said the park reinforces a vision that “everyone will have the access they deserve” to regional park space that will be the “environmental crown jewel for generations to come.”
The grand opening of the park was filled with a number of festivities, from face painting, folklorico dancers, guided walks, food trucks and animal presentations. Local organizations focused on conservation and wildlife were also present, including Active SGV and a chapter of the National Audubon Society.
“This is a moment to celebrate environmental justice and equity, because wherever we add open spaces in underserved communities we improve the lives of thousands of children and families,” Solis stated.
Formerly a Duck Farm site, the 30-acre San Gabriel River Park project sits along a 1-mile stretch of the river in unincorporated Avocado Heights, neighboring the city of La Puente. It is connected to the Emerald Necklace Greenway network, a 17-mile loop of parks connecting 10 cities in the San Gabriel Valley.
The park offers picnic areas, biking and walking trails, and a river overlook plaza. Additionally, the park features natural areas, including wildflower meadows, a native plant demonstration area, and a bioswale area.
For Watson Gan, the opening of new bike lanes brought him to the park opening. Though he comes from a different part of the San Gabriel Valley, Gan said it was, “good to be outside, to get exercise, and to get everyone out here.”
Gan hoped for more people to come out and see the so-called Emerald Necklace.
In the opening of Saturday’s ceremony, emceed by Mark Stanley, director of the Watershed Conservation Authority, Solis recognized the collective effort of the San Gabriel Valley in the opening of the park.
“This is your park… we’ve been waiting 30 years for this to happen,” Solis stated. We continue to fight to keep open spaces.
Solis alluded to nearby MacLaren Hall, where the Board of Supervisors three years ago approved $13.56 million for a park to be built on the site. The MacLaren Community Park Project will help El Monte bolster its slim ratio of what was just 0.4 park acres per 1,000 residents in 2021.
The River Park project is an effort to not only bring open, more vibrant spaces in the middle of Avocado Heights, but also a sustainable oasis for disadvantaged communities, leaders said.
Norma E. García-González, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation, said that, “it has taken generations to make sure that spaces like this are created and gifted to the public.”
“It is a story of perseverance,” said García-González, herself a resident of the San Gabriel Valley.
She recognized the work of the River and Mountains Conservancy, the Watershed Conservation Authority, Supervisor Solis, Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation and the flood control district for helping this park come into fruition.
“We kept the dream alive. We kept the hope alive,” García-González affirmed.
The grand opening commemorated the first phase of a multi-stage process of the completion of San Gabriel Valley Park.
Phase 1a of the project makes up more than 30 acres of green spaces on both sides of the I-605 freeway.
The next steps, or phase 2, is the opening of a nature center onsite to provide interpretive education programming for children to learn and experience nature.
“It’s a gift for generations to come,” García-González stated.