Date: May 13, 2025
District: District 7
Contact: Colleen Park
Phone: (213) 831-8205
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
HAWTHORNE — Decked out with a shiny new playground, basketball half-court and decorated walking paths, the newly reopened Zela Davis Park will provide a welcoming atmosphere for Hawthorne residents and schoolchildren around the corner from Zela Davis Elementary School thanks to a recently completed Clean California-funded project.
Caltrans and the City of Hawthorne celebrated the completion of the $3.3 million Zela Davis Park Renovation Project with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on May 13. City officials, community members and Caltrans representatives all attended the unveiling.
Before renovations, the half-acre park had no bathrooms and limited amenities, featuring only a single picnic table and small playground. Now, community members will be able to enjoy an updated playground with Americans with Disability Act (ADA)-compliant play and exercise equipment, ADA restroom facilities, an improved picnic area with shade structures, and more.
“We are delighted to see the transformation of Zela Davis Park into a beautiful, accessible, and engaging space through the Clean California Local Grant Program, and we look forward to seeing the lasting benefit it will provide for the Hawthorne community and its visitors,” said Caltrans District 7 Director Gloria Roberts.
The project received more than $3 million from the Clean California Local Grant Program under Governor Gavin Newsom’s Clean California initiative – a sweeping $1.2 billion, multiyear cleanup effort led by Caltrans to beautify the state’s highway system and local communities by removing trash and investing in hundreds of transformative local projects to turn public spaces into places of pride. The project also received funding from state and county programs.
“The City of Hawthorne is thankful to Caltrans for their continued partnership and ongoing support in fostering a healthy and sustainable community for the future of Hawthorne's families and children. The generous $3 million grant for the Zela Davis Park Renovation Project will help create an innovative and improved green space in one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in our city,” said Hawthorne Mayor Pro Tem Alex Monterio. “Again, on behalf of the City of Hawthorne, we are very appreciative of the partnership and the grant from Caltrans.”
Park improvements include:
· New playground with ADA-compliant play equipment and shade sail
· Picnic area with shade structures
· Landscaping with California native plants and 40 new shade trees
· Exercise equipment
· Basketball half-court
· 6,000 square feet of pedestrian walking paths with ADA-compliant curb ramps and mosaic art elements
· Perimeter fencing
· New ADA-compliant restrooms with LED lighting
· New bioswale: a landscaping feature to capture, treat and infiltrate stormwater runoff
Though it occupies a small footprint at half an acre, the newly added amenities at Zela Davis Park will benefit many in this densely populated neighborhood of Hawthorne. The park is accessible to the nearly 20,000 residents who live within a walkable half-mile radius, as well as students and their families from nearby Zela Davis Elementary School, Kornblum School and Prairie Vista and Bud Carson Middle Schools.
Since July 2021, Caltrans and its local partners have picked up more than 2.9 million cubic yards of litter – enough to cover nine lanes of Interstate 5 with trash from the Mexican border to Oregon. Caltrans also hosted more than 650 free dump days in communities throughout the state – resulting in the collection of 15,500-plus mattresses and 57,000 tires. The initiative has enlisted more than 72,000 community clean-up volunteers and created thousands of jobs, including positions for individuals who were formerly incarcerated, on probation, or experiencing housing insecurity.
Visit CleanCA.com to learn more about how Clean California is transforming communities and how you can get involved. For more information on current Clean California projects in District 7, visit dot.ca.gov/caltrans-near-me/district-7/district-7-programs/d7-clean-california.
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