A massive park with a splash pad, tennis court, hiking trails and panoramic views is coming to the San Fernando Valley.
And even though the park is expected to open in coming months, its name remains unknown. The park is still under construction and its sign, which sits at the park’s southern entrance, is tightly wrapped in a long plastic sheet.
“I would like to come and open the sign,” said David Balen, a board member and former president of the Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council. “Have they already decided how to name it? It’s a mystery.”
There is no shortage of names suggested for the 50-acre park at 11900 North Mason Ave. About half a dozen options have been reviewed by residents and the city since the park broke ground in 2018.
The reason the park remains nameless, some Porter Ranch residents say, is partly due to the complexities of Los Angeles politics.
The park naming saga started in 2018, when luxury home developer Toll Brothers sent a letter to the Los Angeles Board of Recreation and Parks proposing to name it Bloom Park after then-City Councilmember Mitch Englander’s mother and sister, Linda and Natalie Bloom. And a planned pavilion, the developer suggested, would host arts events and bear the name of the councilmember himself.
But on Dec. 31, 2018, Englander stepped down from his City Council seat amid an FBI investigation of corruption at City Hall that led to his imprisonment. The previous councilmember for District 12, Greig Smith, temporarily filled the empty seat and suggested that to “honor the request of a loyal steward” of district, the city should still name the vast space Bloom Park. That proposal came to a halt after Englander, in June 2021, went to federal prison and was released in early 2022.
Since then, the city’s Department of Recreation and Parks has received more than half a dozen suggestions from residents on what to name the future park. Among the ideas, residents suggested Porter Ranch Community Park,…
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