Children from Casa Cultura Saybrook Park in Los Angeles recently joined Los Angeles County officials, representatives of First 5 LA, Grand Park and the Music Center at a ground-breaking ceremony for Grand Park’s new play area. The area, which is the first major addition since the park opened in 2012, is scheduled to open in November.

Los Angeles County officials and children from Casa Cultura Saybrook Park came together for the groundbreaking ceremony. (photo courtesy of Bonnie Goodman for Grand Park)

The play area is being constructed from a highly innovative, unique design created specifically for use by children up to 12 years old, and their families. A counterpart to the park’s popular and child-friendly interactive water feature, the play area will help meet the needs of the 1,000 to 2,000 families who visit the park each weekend.

“Grand Park is a ‘Great Places in America’ designation, and our very own urban oasis in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina, 1st District. “Some of my favorite childhood memories are outdoor activities with my siblings and friends, and I wanted to create a special space with an adventurous environment for all children who visit Grand Park, to bring children directly in touch with nature in their own corner of the world. We have served the children of Los Angeles at Grand Park’s Block 1 with the fountain that is affectionately called ‘Toddlers Beach’, and soon they will have a separate play area where they can climb, explore, exercise and create many happy memories.” she added.

The play area is funded jointly by a $500,000 grant from First 5 LA, and $500,000 from Proposition A/Los Angeles County Regional Park and Open Space District funding.

Children visiting the new play area will experience a forest setting, which was designed by Rios Clementi Hale Studios, the original architect for Grand Park. The space will offer a custom, 20-foot-tall tree house with a four-foot-tall roller slide and a 12-foot-tall tube slide, along with three interior tiers of platforms. The “forest floor” is a large play surface with seven berms ranging in size from one to four feet tall. Some have features such as rock-climbing handles, a rope climber, and a tunnel in which to crawl.

Joining Molina at the groundbreaking were Los Angeles County Supervisors Zev Yaroslavsky, Don Knabe and Mike Antonovich, as well as Santos Kreimann, deputy chief executive officer for the County of Los Angeles; Jennifer Pippard, interim director of the Community Investments Department for First 5 LA; Jonathan Weedman, president of the Los Angeles County Grand Park Foundation; and Grand Park director Lucas Rivera.

The 12-acre Grand Park stretches from the Music Center to the west, to Los Angeles City Hall to the east. For information, visit www.grandparkla.org.