EDITORIAL
Yellow tape surround the park in front of Pasadena City Hall (Photo – Staff).
A beautiful park across from Pasadena’s stunning City Hall is about to be destroyed forever.
By George Patton
A 180-plus room hotel is to be built on the land currently occupied by the park. A developer has been promised the land in a closed-door deal with the Pasadena City Council.
According to Marsha Rood, former development administrator for the city, the current market value for this parcel is approximately five million dollars. This prime land sits next to the Jackie and Mack Robinson Memorial. The two bronze sculptures’ adjacent space will definitely be impacted with the current plans.
At present, the plans for the hotel include no parking for guests. The Environmental Impact Report (EIR) filed found no significant impacts. Given that the proposed hotel will dwarf the buildings around it, block views of City Hall, and lead to increased traffic in the form of shuttles, this seems overly optimistic.
The city manager is pushing the city council to declare the civic center parkland as “surplus”. This is in contradiction to Pasadena city policies, which call for more green space in the Central District, not less.
On Saturday, August 6, a group of Pasadena residents held a petition-signing picnic to educate the public about this looming threat to the park. Mayor Tornek, who attended the event, declined to address the people in attendance. He would only say that he was there to learn. The group is floating an alternative plan (see Alternative 2E below).
Alternative 2E to the Kimpton Hotel plan (Photo – Facebook, DPNA).
Impact
In addition to the impact to the Jackie and Mack Robinson Memorial, 36 trees would also have to be removed for this project to go forward as planned. This includes trees planted by the Sister Cities program, and the plaque identifying them.
What to do?
This coming Monday, August 15, the Pasadena City Council will meet to vote on this proposed hotel project. The back room deal will be made public in council chambers. The City Council meeting is the last step in the overall project approval process. Readers are encouraged to attend.
This project will impact people, trees, and our city’s beloved memorial to the Robinson brothers. It will affect everyone’s experience of the city.
Sign in front of Centennial Square announcing the August 16, 2016 meeting (Photo – Emmanuel Kraultez).
And what about the boutique hotel in the old YWCA building ?
If you’re going to add another hotel, 2E is the way to go. Keep the trees, green areas, and airy, fresh grounds. THINK about it !!!!
They are already building two new hotels at the old Ford dealership on Colorado , just opened a new hotel on Fair Oaks and Walnut- how much more revenue does the city need my property taxes continue to rise so it does not benefit the Pasadena homeowner!
What’s the hold-up on the Hyatt they were supposed to build on the site of the Macy’s in Plaza Paseo? That site has been a mess for months. Finish that hotel!