For the first time in over a year, parents and children gathered at Brand Park. They were the first to enjoy a new playground area, outdoor fitness equipment and revitalized baseball fields.
Danny Nuñez, a Sylmar resident who was at the reopening with his 11-year-old son, is glad the park is open and is looking forward to more visits. “I have two other smaller kids, and they wanted to visit the park, but there weren’t too many options [for recreation] here before – this has become an option now.”
Brand Park had its official ribbon cutting on Dec. 2 after being closed in November of last year for renovations.
Now the park has a playground with colorful swings, slides and monkey bars, and a fitness area with a rock-climbing wall and its version of elliptical machines. The baseball fields were also upgraded with new fencing and bleachers.
The improvements were made in collaboration between the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks and the office of City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez, who humorously recounted her memories of Brand Park as largely open space.
“If you weren’t playing baseball, this was the place you came to fly your kite on windy days,” Rodriguez said. “So [when] we literally used to be [told], ‘Go fly a kite,’ you came to Brand Park.”
But, without a playground area in the past, the park was underutilized as a recreational space except for the baseball fields.
For years, the park located across from the San Fernando Mission has been well known for its rose bushes at Memory Gardens as a popular spot for wedding parties and those in quinceañeras to take photos on their special day.
It’s also been the place on weekends for local car clubs to park their cars and meet.
But with the new playground, a walking trail and other bells and whistles, the hope is more parents will come to enjoy the park with their children.
“We heard your concerns and we [upgraded] Brand Park for you to fully enjoy,” said Chinyere Stoneham, superintendent at LA’s Department of Recreation and Parks. “You can bring your family out to have a picnic, birthday parties [or] celebrations.”
“We learned through COVID-19 how desperately our community needs access to quality open space,” Rodriguez told the San Fernando Valley Sun/el Sol.
“It’s part of having good, stable mental health… people shouldn’t have to leave their neighborhood in order to be able to enjoy these types of amenities, and so it was important for Mission Hills to have access to it in their own neighborhood park.”
But, what also became evident during the pandemic was a growing homeless population that settled into the park which discouraged residents in the neighborhood from using it.
While no encampments were in sight during the reopening, some parents in attendance were taking a wait-and-see position. They said people were previously lighting fires to stay warm and leaving garbage behind.
“If it’s me with my boys, it’s no biggie, but I wouldn’t feel safe if there’s a bunch of homeless [people here] and it’s just the wife with the boys,” said a father who identified himself as Jon M.
“I know there were a bunch of homeless over here, but they’ve cleaned that up,” Jon said. “We used to come walking through here, [but] we stopped because of the encampments that they had, but now it seems better.”
He said it remains to be seen if maintenance will be done to ensure the park will remain as clean as it was in preparation for the reopening event.
“Everything’s great when it’s new, don’t get me wrong, but give it a month or two [and] we’ll see,” said Jon.
In the meantime, the hope is that more families will see Brand Park as an outdoor gathering spot for healthful recreation.
“I’m looking forward to building new memories,” said Crystal Valdez, who lives down the street from Brand Park. “It was sad before…a gorgeous park, but just very lonely and no amenities available. Now you have options and a gorgeous path, and I look forward to the liveliness that’s going to come.”
Valdez describes the park as now having a more “relaxed” feel to it. She would like to see the work continue to include shade for people sitting on the bleachers and more park benches.
Rodriguez said she is looking ahead to beautify and invest in the park’s memory gardens and community center for future improvements, but there isn’t a set date to begin such plans due to a current lack of funds.
Editor Diana Martinez contributed to this story