LA COUNTY REGIONAL PARK AND OPEN SPACE DISTRICT (RPOSD) ANNOUNCES AWARD FOR INITIAL SANTA MONICA GREAT PARK PLANNING & DESIGN
The L.A. Country regional park and open space district (RPOSD) just announced its 2026 Measure-A Park Grants including an award of $499,149 to the City of Santa Monica to design and plan the first 20 acres of the Great Park that will replace Santa Monica Airport when the airport closes after 2028.
This award represents an important vote of confidence in the City’s on-going park-planning process. One month ago the City unveiled the Great Park Draft Framework which is the culmination of years of community outreach and public process to develop a plan for the future of the airport land that would be consistent with Measure LC, the voter-approved 2014 measure that called for converting the airport land into a park. RPOSD grant awards are the result of a competitive process.
“The Santa Monica Airport2Park Foundation applauds City staff in applying for and receiving this initial grant. Planning and build-out of Great Parks takes place over many years, and the City’s two step day-one and one-day approach recognizes this. The RPOSD award gives us the funding to move forward immediately with day-one planning,” said Neil Carrey, President of the foundation. “Airport2Park believes this is the first funding award of many, and it proves that if you lay out an inspiring vision for Great Park, it will attract funding of all kinds to make it happen. The false claim that there will be no money to build the park is simply wrong.”
“The Santa Monica Great Park Coalition congratulates City Staff for this achievement. The community of Santa Monica is behind you all the way! We also note the large number of SMGPC supporting organizations that submitted letters in support of this grant application, our thanks go to all them also.” said John Fairweather, President of the SMGPC, “Note this is a planning grant which RPOSD caps at $500K, however park-buildout grants range from $1-4 million, and the City’s data-driven outreach approach lays the groundwork for future applications to this and all other sources.” Fairweather continued “The SMGPC and its supporters will not rest until the Great Park, all 192 acres of it, is realized as fully LC-compliant parkland.”
Both Carrey and Fairweather urged the public to participate in the City’s new Framework survey which is still open until April 26th.
