For anyone who has wondered what a Great Park at the Santa Monica Airport site could actually look like, the City’s new draft Framework Diagram offers the clearest picture yet.
This is part of the Santa Monica Airport Conversion Project, now in Phase 3B. At this stage, the City is not presenting a final detailed design. Instead, it is showing a big-picture framework for how the future park could be organized: what kinds of spaces belong where, how different uses relate to one another, and how years of community input can begin to take physical shape. You can learn more about the overall process at SMACProject.com.
That is what makes this moment so exciting. The framework shows that a Great Park is not an abstract idea. It is becoming a real and thoughtful plan, one that reflects Santa Monica’s needs for nature, recreation, culture, gathering space, climate resilience, and public life.
The Eight Districts
Structured by Big Moves (transformative spatial strategies); Bold Connections (how people move to, through, and across the site), and Beloved Places (the distinct districts where people gather, reflect, play, and belong), the Draft Framework establishes the Park’s overall structure, organizing the airport site into eight districts, each with its own distinct character, potential uses, and illustrative concepts that help the community envision what could take shape across the property.
Based on site analysis and community input on uses, layers, and character, a calmer neighborhood character emerges on the west, with a more active, regional character on the east.
Functionally, it allows community and Council input on where things go before beginning design, can be used as the basis for grant funding and feasibility studies, and provides enough information for realistic construction estimating to commence and phasing opportunities.
Immersive Nature
We start on the west side of the site, as the Immersive Nature district envisions expansive natural systems and layered ecological experiences that prioritize native species and biodiversity enhancement. This is where the framework creates the opportunity for an urban forest, restored habitats, wildlife corridors, shaded walking trails, wildflower meadows, butterfly gardens, and dedicated birdwatching areas.
A community farm could reconnect residents to local food systems, while constructed wetlands, ponds, or even a lake could support stormwater capture, habitat restoration, and meaningful public access to water. With its western location, the scenic overlook and sunset views could be unmatched. In a city with limited tree canopy and growing heat challenges, this district points toward a landscape that would provide both environmental resilience and a profound sense of place.
Active Sports
On the east side of the project, the Active Sports district responds to one of Santa Monica’s clearest needs: more playable field space. This district creates the opportunity for multi-use athletic fields, baseball and softball diamonds, soccer fields, and court sports, along with the potential for an aquatic center with public pools, tennis and pickleball courts, basketball courts, a skate park, volleyball courts, a disc golf course, or even an ice rink.
The range of athletic uses that could be accommodated here is extraordinary and would meaningfully expand access to recreation across our city. Regulation fields and major sports facilities require substantial, uninterrupted acreage, which is one more reason it is so important to preserve all 192 acres for park and park-serving uses.
The Stroll
The Stroll, situated on the footprint of today’s Clover Park, is envisioned as the welcoming front door to the Great Park. Designed as a relaxed, people-first landscape, it would offer everyday connections between nature, recreation, and community life.
The framework suggests wide multi-use paths for walking and cycling, along with bike trails that invite residents and visitors to explore the park at a slower pace. Spaces for a dog park, community gardens, and flexible lawns could support daily neighborhood activity, while plazas, grassy knolls, and quiet enclaves might provide places to gather, rest, or enjoy informal recreation.
A growing urban forest would add to Santa Monica’s precious heat-mitigating tree canopy, and public gardens could help make The Stroll a welcoming and vibrant entry point into the larger park.
The Meadow
The Meadow is shown as one of the central gathering places within the Great Park and a destination in its own right. Positioned just beyond The Stroll, it could become a place where people arrive, spread out, play, relax, and come together.
At its center is the idea of a generous lawn that could support local events, performances, and everyday socializing while still providing flexible, unprogrammed open space. Additional possibilities include a splash pad or water feature, an imaginative adventure playground, a wildflower meadow, wetlands and ponds, and other natural landscapes that support habitat and environmental learning.
A sculpture garden, outdoor classrooms, and teaching gardens could further activate the district, creating opportunities for art, education, and community connection. On any given day, it could also simply be a place to fly kites, toss a Frisbee, or gather with family and friends on the grass.
Arts & Culture
The Arts & Culture district is envisioned as a vibrant cultural corridor within the Great Park, building on Santa Monica’s rich arts community and existing cultural institutions. It would offer spaces for performance, exhibition, and artistic collaboration, inviting visitors to experience the arts in both formal and informal ways.
This district could include performance venues, gallery and exhibition spaces, outdoor stages, and flexible areas for festivals, concerts, and community events. Murals and public art could reflect the cultural diversity of Santa Monica, while a small amphitheater could provide space for local groups, ensembles, and community theater.
The district could also become a lively gathering place organized around food, performance, and cultural events, with possibilities such as a food incubator, café, food hall, or food truck area supporting local entrepreneurs and creating a social hub. It also builds on cultural assets already present in this part of the site, including Barker Hangar, the Ruskin Group Theatre Arts Center, the Airport Arts Center studios, and the Museum of Flying.
Urban Edge
The Urban Edge district would transform the northern border of the site into an active and accessible frontage. Rather than feeling cut off or utilitarian, this area could become an inviting park edge that draws people in from Ocean Park Boulevard, nearby businesses, and the surrounding neighborhood.
Through adaptive use of existing structures, the framework suggests pedestrian-friendly pathways and neighborhood-serving amenities such as a youth and senior center, daycare, library, or incubator for small businesses. Cafés, a family-friendly beer garden, farmers’ and makers market space, and areas for informal recreation like bocce, table tennis, cornhole, and pickup games could all help support everyday use and gathering.
The Lawn
The Lawn is envisioned as a broad, open landscape that preserves a sense of the site’s scale while offering flexible space for recreation, gathering, emergency response, and everyday use. It is intended to be communal: the living room of Santa Monica.
Reflecting strong community interest in large unprogrammed areas, this district could support picnicking and play, periodic community events, and activities that benefit from wide, unobstructed space. It also ties directly to one of the framework’s “Big Moves,” to “Remember the Runway,” by following the alignment of the former runway and creating a setting for historic interpretation about Clover Field, the 99s, Amelia Earhart, and the many pilots, workers, and service members connected to the site.
The Lawn could also play an essential role in resilience and public safety, with the kind of open configuration that can support emergency response and staging when needed.
The Heart
The Heart is envisioned as one of the central gathering places within the Great Park and a destination within the park itself. Located where multiple districts intersect, it would serve as a primary hub of activity, connection, and shared experience: a civic core where architecture, landscape, and movement come together.
The framework imagines long views into the park, strong pedestrian and biking connections, and even the possibility of a non-aviation transit center that would further establish this district as a hub within the larger city. As the social and spatial center of the park, The Heart could help define the identity of the Great Park as a whole.
Why This Matters
Taken together, these eight districts show why the Framework Diagram is such an important step. It does not present the future park as a vague dream. It presents a real, structured, and inspiring direction for the site, one that balances nature, recreation, culture, gathering, history, resilience, and everyday public life.
We believe this is the right direction, and we strongly support it. The framework makes clear just how extraordinary this opportunity is, and how important it is to preserve the full 192-acre site for park and park-serving uses so this vision can become a reality.
Next Steps
The City is asking for public feedback right now. We encourage you to review the project materials at SMACProject.com, explore the full Framework Diagram presentation, and then take the City’s survey before it closes on April 26.
The Framework Diagram is anticipated to be presented to City Council for approval (along with the feedback collected), in May. Once approved, Staff will begin more detailed planning for each district in our Great Park!
