Wednesday, April 14, 2010

central park


day three of the tour of pasadena's parks. central park is (of course) centrally located in old town pasadena. right next door to the castle green.

from the city website:

"Central Park is located at 275 South Raymond Avenue. Hours of operation are from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm. The size of the park is 9.2 acres. This near downtown facility includes six horseshoe pits; picnic tables; rose garden; children’s playground area; benches; restrooms and drinking fountains. In addition, there are two lawn bowling greens and a clubhouse under the auspices of the Pasadena Lawn Bowling Club, an affiliate of the American Lawn Bowling Association."




pasadena parks so far...

1. brookside park
2. singer park

12 comments:

Petrea Burchard said...

This park is relatively unchanged in 100 years. You can see it in many historical photographs of Castle Green and the Green hotel, as well as other views. I don't think the mosaic signs were there that long ago, though!

ben wideman said...

Nope - PIO and some others pointed out that their installation was around the first Gulf War.

JustinM said...

I miss the Summerfest in Central Park. Brookside was fun, too (the Rose Bowl not as much) but in Central Park there was a real community feeling to it. I understand the city's reasoning for not wanting those kind of events, but I don't agree with it.

ben wideman said...

what was Summerfest??

JustinM said...

Artists and craftspeople, a small carnival midway, and a Jazz Festival. It was over Memorial Day Weekend every year, a nice kick-off to summer. But it was fun, so, of course, it had to disappear.

Here's a short article.

ben wideman said...

That does sound cool. Poor choice for dropping the arts, Pasadena!

Cafe Observer said...

Yeah, I miss the festivals @ Central Park as well. The restaurant across the street is nice, but no festival.

Even Playboy wood have a couple of their Jazz fests here.

JustinM said...

I have heard more than one hundred people say over the last three years how much they miss Summerfest and the Playboy Jazz Festival. I have yet to hear one single person say they are glad it's gone. But the powers that be wanted it gone, so it's gone. The way of the world, I suppose.

ben wideman said...

I wonder what the rationale was? Cost? Influx of drunk people?

Seems like the benefit to the city's businesses would greatly outweigh any of the above concerns.

JustinM said...

I'm not entirely sure. UCLA games and the Tournament of Roses/Rose Bowl Game are far bigger hassles with many more drunk people. But they probably provide a lot more revenue for the city. Maybe it's not so much about not liking the festivals as not liking the people who like the festivals, and that sentiment is being hidden behind a desire to "protect" the parks.

Because, as I wrote, I know many, many people who are sad it's not here anymore, and I have yet to meet someone who is glad it's gone.

Cafe Observer said...

I agree with the Pulled Porker. I can see how ucla can bring in problem drunks to the area. Gotta watch them.

Prohibition? At their games at least!

JustinM said...

As much as I love beer (and UCLA!) I support not selling alcohol at college games. Too much passion and too little maturity. I was at the Colorado-Colorado State game a decade ago where we got tear-gassed because of a bunch of unruly fans. (It was at Mile High Stadium and the defending champion Broncos opened the season the next week and the police were under orders to protect the field and the goalposts. It was a giant mess that would have been a lot better if no one could have purchased alcohol in the stadium.)