With 17,000 people displaced from Altadena by the Eaton fire, some trickle back to the burn-scared community and hold impromptu meetings in the middle of the town’s deserted streets.

For Ian White, the rebuilding of the Altadena park named after his father, Charles White Park, complete with a community building, could be that healing space for the town’s people.

“I do believe folks need to come back to the community and re-energize and to discuss challenges that everybody is having,” said White. “I am thinking about the global community. We are all part of it.”

White was all smiles on Thursday, Nov. 21, in the restored Loma Alta Gymnasium, where Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger and other county officials announced White Park was one of five parks, plus a golf course, that either have been restored, or will be rebuilt either fully or in part, in the next year or two.

“The rebuilding of homes and neighborhoods are underway” more than 10 months since the Jan. 7-Jan.8 Eaton fire decimated the unincorporated town located at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains north of Pasadena, announced Barger who kicked off the parks re-birth celebration that the rain could not dampen. “And that includes Altadena’s beloved parks.”

Through state, county and mostly private donations, the county has collected $60 million allotted for park restoration projects.

“$60 million in about 10 months. I could never have imagined that,” said Norma Garcia-Gonzalez, director of the LA County Department of Parks and Recreation. “For me the word is gratitude. Gratitude for this collective village.”

However, the $60 million raised so far represents only about one-third of the more than $190 million needed to fully restore all impacted park spaces in Altadena, the county reported.

The money will bring to life the parks recovery plan designed by county Parks and Recreation and the Altadena Town Council, Barger said. Each park has been assigned dollars and some still need more funding for additional work:

• Loma Alta Park, $3.4 million. Competed in May, with new playgrounds, ballfields and a gymnasium. The Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation paid for the two greenfields, giving Central Altadena Little Leaguers a place to play ball. The Los Angeles Clippers Foundation funded the gym, complete with a basketball court.

• Triangle Park. Completed in June. Los Angeles Conservation Corps planted 3,000 native plants.

• Charles White Park. $10.5 million secured. That includes: $5.5 million from the state and $5 million for the Walt Disney Co. It was always a passive park, with mostly grounds and open space. Plans are to build a community building with completion by March 2027, White said.

• Charles Farnsworth Park. $8.75 million secured. Work on phases one and two are funded and will start in early 2026. This includes a reflection garden where people can pay tribute to loved ones who perished in the fire. Also restoration will include new restrooms and two new ballfields.  The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy gave $5 million. Rivers and Mountains Conservancy gave $3 million. LA Dodgers Foundation, $750,000; Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Pasadena Rotary gave a combined $350,000 to restore the park’s iconic amphitheater.

Farnsworth Park’s historic Davies Building burned down in the fire. The price tag to rebuild it plus other on-site improvements will cost a whopping $68.1 million. This phase is not yet funded.

• Eaton Canyon Nature Area Park. $16.2 million secured from the state. Los Angeles County Regional Park and Open Space District gave $1 million. Rivers and Mountains added $1.9 million to restore native plants, part of a Landscape Recovery Center to be stood up at the park in mid December.

To rebuild the Eaton Canyon Nature Center, there is a need for $19 million, the county reported. County has hired designers to configure the new building and most likely it will be in a different spot within the county park. “The location of our next Nature Center is almost nature-proof,” said Garcia-Gonzalez.

Also, the county needs about $18 million for restoration efforts in the 198-acre park in northeastern Pasadena, adjacent to Altadena. Trails were washed out by rains after the fire denuded the paths and stream beds.

• Altadena Golf Course. The driving range was restored by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Garcia-Gonzalez wants to raise about $25.2 million to build the coffee shop that burned down in the fire.

• Altadena area trails. About $800,000 was secured for work on some trails to be completed next month. The county needs $8 million for restoration of the Altadena Crest and Eaton Canyon trails as well as other trails damaged in the fire. The two popular trails received about 5,000 hikers each day before the fire. “These trails are where diversity and multi-generational families come. Where you can go from urban to wild in less than five minutes,” said Garcia-Gonzalez.

“We still have some work to do,” she said.

She said parks increase the value of nearby homes and studies have shown communities with adequate parks increase life expectancy of residents.

“Our parks and open spaces are part of the healing spaces that are bringing joy to Altadena,” said Garcia-Gonzalez.

Related links

• New financing district aims to pay for fire-damaged Altadena streets, trees, sewer lines and parks
• Probe pushes on into why Altadena residents’ alerts were late during Eaton fire
• Report shows how Eaton fire moved west, into Altadena, well before many were alerted
• Altadena’s Loma Alta Park reopens after Eaton fire damage, bringing smiles to fire-weary burn zone
• Altadena residents find ‘weird sense of normalcy’ living in RVs while rebuilding