For years, the Friends of Bixby Park (FOBP) and the Alamitos Beach residents have worked to create a safe, inviting place for all residents by participating in a visioning process, advocating for safety and for a new playground. They have rolled up their sleeves to work with our office, Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia, the Long Beach Police Department, the City’s Public Works Department and the City’s Parks Recreation and Marine Department in order to see this vision fulfilled.
Our first great partnership was the development of the Historic Puppy Park (Bixby Park Dog Park), which now has its own group of stewards working to maintain it. FOBP have started a public-safety committee so families feel safe, and they continue to advocate for upgrades, such as the playground, planters and a decomposed-granite walking path that is accessible to those with disabilities.
I am proud of the relationships my office has built with Claudia, Ron and the rest of the Friends of Bixby Park. We worked hard to build trust to be able to deliver on our collective vision of a safe and activated park.
This is why I am happy to announce that I have worked with Mayor Garcia to secure $350,000 of ‘Measure A’ funding to upgrade and activate Parcel 1 of Bixby Park. I’d like to thank Mayor Garcia for working with us to identify funding to enrich this portion of the Broadway Corridor.
We are still waiting to see a first draft from Public Works of the park design, but they are using the Bixby Park Master Plan as their inspiration and to take design cues from. After the draft is released, we will bring it to you, the public, for your input.
“Our board has waited a long time for a councilmember who understands our objective to rehabilitate and activate this underserved area. Councilwoman Jeannine Pearce is in sync with our vision and is helping to make it happen!” – Claudia Schou, president of Friends of Bixby Park
Thank you to everyone who has donated time, money or resources to the park over the years. We are grateful and are humbled to serve you in office. We can’t wait to work on this project with you, too.
