Mayor Phil Brock Plans To Rename Virginia Avenue Park

Mayor Phil Brock announced a plan to rename Virginia Avenue Park during his first State of the City address last night.

Brock, who recently began his term overseeing the local government, said the land near Pico Boulevard and Centinela Avenue would be dedicated to Lloyd Allen, a 102 year-old resident who first brought Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to Santa Monica and later became the city’s first black Parks & Recreation Commissioner.

“He envisioned a great park for the Pico neighborhood at a time when the city council had zero interest in such an idea,” Brock said. “He fought in the 1970’s to raise funds and acquire land for such a park, and he would never take ‘no’ for an answer. He fought for 25 years to add more land and facilities to the place that is now Virginia Avenue Park.”

Brock said he intends to bring the matter before the City Council in the coming year.

Check out the rest of his remarks about the State of the City in the video below.

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