The city of South Pasadena celebrated the groundbreaking and naming of a new park last week. The Dr. Beatriz Solis Memorial Park memorializes a community member and longtime advocate.
The City Council will be rewarding a contract for construction of the new park at a February meeting, with a project completion and grand opening anticipated by the fall or winter in 2024.
The city will invite the community to attend the grand opening next year.
The park, located at 2006 Berkshire Ave., honors Beatriz Solis, a longtime South Pasadena resident and a tireless advocate of parks. She played an integral role in the City Council’s decision to purchase the Berkshire property from Caltrans, and her desire was to secure the land for a neighborhood pocket park in the northern section of the city to add open space in the area.
Solis was also a crucial participant in the South Pasadena Educational Foundation, assisting in building strong local schools, where her two sons attended and graduated.
“Dr. Solis is renowned locally, in the region, the state and nationwide for her contributions to education, access, equity and inclusion. The family continues to reside in and contribute to the South Pasadena community,” the city said in a statement. “In recognition of her exemplary service, the South Pasadena City Council unanimously voted to name the park in her honor.”
The open space project is made possible through funding from the voter-approved Los Angeles County Measure A funds.
The park will feature a new four-square court, fitness equipment, seating areas, open play space and additional safety elements and site enhancements.
First published in the December 22 print issue of the South Pasadena Review.
