GROUNDBREAKING AT CHARLES WHITE PARK IN ALTADENA HIGHLIGHTS AMBITIOUS, RE-IMAGINED PLAY SPACE AND CULTURAL TIES TO THE COMMUNITY

 Significant state funds from Assemblyman John Harabedian and funding from The Walt Disney Company kickstarts development of an enhanced park with dozens of new trees, a fanciful new playground designed by Disney Imagineers, a new recreation center and many other features

 ALTADENA, Calif. (October 3, 2026) – Even before the 2025 wildfires, an expansive, re-imagined Charles White Park was in the works. Enhanced features and creative plans were already underway to transform this mostly passive park of broad lawns into a recreation, cultural and community jewel.

Saturday’s groundbreaking at Charles White Park opened a new chapter for this longtime West Altadena park, whose two playgrounds and restrooms burned in the 2025 Eaton Fire, while its expansive lawns and trees were mostly unscathed. A new 10,000-pound Coast Live Oak was also planted with a backhoe today, to the cheers of about 200 guests at the ceremony.

After an extensive redesign and restoration, Charles White Park will reemerge lushly landscaped with dozens of oaks, cedars, sycamores and other native trees, a new recreation center, new pickleball courts with lighting, a fanciful new playground with nature-based and inclusive play features designed by Disney Imagineers, and public art that will highlight the legacy of artist White.

“Since the Eaton Fire devastated our communities last January, Altadena has endured the unimaginable,” said Rep. Judy Chu (CA-28). “What I’ve heard from survivors is that beyond the loss of homes and businesses, the loss of treasured community spaces like Charles White Park has been felt just as deeply. This was where kids learned to ride bikes, where neighbors became friends, and where this community gathered. Today’s groundbreaking means Altadena isn’t just rebuilding, it’s coming back to life. I am thrilled to see the plans for a new Charles White Park set into motion, and all the ways it will serve our community today and for generations to come.”

“Altadena has been through a lot, and people deserve to have places like this to come back to,” said Assemblymember John Harabedian (D-Pasadena). “I’m glad we could help get the funding moving for Charles White Park. This is going to be a place for kids to play, families to gather, and neighbors to reconnect. I think that matters a lot right now. After the fire, there has been so much focus on rebuilding homes and businesses, and rightfully so. But rebuilding a community also means rebuilding the places where people spend time together. I’m excited to see this park come back and to see what it means to Altadena when it does.”

Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said, “Altadena has lost so much, but it has not lost its spirit. Charles White Park, named for an artist who celebrated the dignity of everyday people, will once again be a home for recreation, culture, and community. Today, we begin building it back.”

For Ian White, son of renowned Black artist Charles White whose name graces the Mountain View Street park, the extensive renovation of this five-acre site will include public art and interpretative areas that honor his father’s artistic legacy. Many parkgoers do not know of the elder White’s distinguished oeuvre of drawings, paintings, and prints over a nearly 50-year-career that was celebrated at The Art Institute of Chicago and New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

“My father’s images reflect the African American experience from his native Chicago to New York to his adopted home of Altadena and beyond,” said Ian White. “His artworks reflect monumental occasions of history and triumph to quiet everyday life. The reimagining of the park would profoundly touch my father. To spark the creative imagination, young and old, was his greatest pleasure.”

In fact, Altadena’s artistic spirit was evident at many community meetings where residents of all ages, including children, offered ideas and suggestions for the park’s new features.

“We wanted to use the expertise of our Disney Imagineers to help bring the park’s new playground and gathering spaces to life,” said Emily Dow of The Walt Disney Company, which also donated $5 million to the park restoration effort. “Our partnership with LA County Parks was to dream big and transform this place deeply cherished by the Altadena community into a vibrant space where children and families can play, connect, and create new memories for generations to come.”

Yvette Lopez-Ledesma, incoming Executive Director of the L.A. County Parks Foundation, said she is grateful for the generous funders that make the restoration of Charles White Park possible. “This is a gift to the families and individuals who will be able to return here and reconnect with their park and neighbors,” said Lopez-Ledesma. “It’s also a renewal story that we need to repeat at our other fire-impacted parks in Altadena, and we are calling on corporate and philanthropic partners to help us fill the remaining gaps.”

County of Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation (LA County Parks) Director Norma E. García-González recalled the pleas of residents to quickly reopen parks after the 2025 fires. “Charles White Park and other Altadena parks offer more than recreation and respite to residents,” García-González said. “Altadena consider these places and the outdoors as precious communal “back yards” to their neighborhood. When we reopen a park here we restore the heartbeat of this close-knit community. We restore hope and healing.”

The restoration of Charles White Park will include:

• New and renovated playground areas with nature-based and inclusive play features
• New splash pad and creek-style interactive water play feature
• New Charles White Park recreation center building
• New pickleball courts with lighting
• New and improved ADA-accessible walkways and site circulation with exercise equipment
• New terraced outdoor seating and gathering areas
• New park lighting and electrical improvements
• Three new enhanced park entrances
• New site furnishings, including benches, tables, and drinking fountains
• New climate-appropriate planting, shade trees, and irrigation improvements throughout the park
• New demonstration garden
• New outdoor classroom
• Public art throughout the park