The public is invited to the grand opening ceremony for Robert Gumbiner Park at 880 East 7th Street on Sunday, April 23 at 1:00 pm. The event will feature a live DJ, food trucks, activities and more.
"I am excited to see this project come to completion," said Mayor Robert Garcia. "We have invested years into this park in order to provide much needed recreational open space, a safer environment, and a better traffic intersection for Long Beach residents."
The 36,590 square-foot park includes a small performance area, playgrounds, a skate plaza, shade structures, a picnic area and public art pieces donated by the nearby Museum of Latin American Art (MoLAA) and Pacific Island Ethnic Art Museum (PIEAM).
The park also incorporates sustainability design features that include the use of recycled pavement, a bioswale that retains and filters storm water, large canopied trees and a new green space in a fully built-out area.
"Gumbiner Park is a game changer for one of the most park-poor areas of the city," said Councilwoman Lena Gonzalez. "This new park will bring people out of their homes to experience new activists such as yoga, the arts, and skateboarding."
Additional infrastructure improvements to the area include street improvements and new sidewalks that meet current disabled access regulations. The park will benefit approximately 32,000 residents who live within a half-mile radius.
On June 9, 2015, the Long Beach City Council agreed with recommendations from the Parks and Recreation Commission and the Housing and Neighborhoods Committee, and voted unanimously to name the park in honor of Dr. Robert Gumbiner, a health care pioneer and philanthropist who opened the nearby MoLAA in 1996. Mayor Garcia sponsored the original City Council agenda item.
As a doctor and an administrator, Dr. Gumbiner guided the growth of his small medical practice into one of the largest HMO's in the country, FHP International. He insisted that his business "provide the most care to the most people for the least amount of money."
Dr. Gumbiner made additional contributions to Long Beach’s cultural and artistic legacy by founding the PIEAM, which opened in October 2010, nearly two years after he died in January 2009 at the age of 85.
The development of the park was made possible through $2.83 Million in funds secured from the Statewide Park Development and Community Revitalization Program (Prop 84)...
(May 23, 2014) -- Documents obtained by LBREPORT.com show the City of Long Beach told two state agencies two different versions of its plans related to a pet project of then-Councilman (now Vice Mayor and Mayoral candidate) Robert Garcia. Materials obtained under the CA Public Records Act show the City sought taxpayer funds (grants) from CalTrans ($900,000) and the CA Dept. of Parks & Recreation ($2.8 million) to redirect traffic and produce roughly 0.84 acres of green space at 7th St./MLK/Alamitos Ave...and gave the two agencies different versions of what the City would do.
In its grant application to CalTrans, the City indicated that it had studied the area's traffic issues and after careful review had decided NOT to close MLK Ave. entirely between 6th and 7th St., leaving two lanes open (effectively the exit route for nearby neighborhood residents.) However in its grant application to CA's Dept. of Parks and Recreation, the City said it planned to close off MLK Ave. entirely between 6th and 7th St. to create the new park.
The project, which Garcia (and independent urban designer Brian Ulaszewski) initially championed as "Armory Park," is now dubbed "Gumbiner Park," a name awaiting Parks & Rec Comm'n approval. From its earliest public discussion, Mr. Ulaszewski and Councilman Garcia consistently represented the proposed project as closing MLK Ave. between 6th and 7th St.
Although the City has sought to portray the traffic and park grants as separate, Councilman Garcia has explicitly tied the traffic and park aspects of the project together, stating in public fora that the project will [paraphrase] fix Long Beach's most dangerous intersection and provide the park-thin neighborhood with much needed green space.
On May 9, 2011, Councilman Garcia held a media event at the project location at which he stated -- accurately -- that the traffic grant and the park grant were both necessary to bring the project to fruition.
May 2011: Councilman Garcia, flanked by DLBA Exec. Dir. Kraig Kojian (left) and architect Brian Ulaszewski (right)
City Traffic Engineer Dave Roseman attended the event but wasn't one of the invited speakers. Mr. Roseman watched from the audience, alongside reporters. Graphics were displayed -- which didn't have the City logo on them (meaning they weren't produced by City Hall) -- that showed MLK Ave. blocked off entirely between 6th and 7th St.
Graphic displayed as "proposed" at May 9, 2011 Garcia press event
City documents reviewed by LBREPORT.com indicate total traffic project costs are $1.3 million, of which the CalTrans grant covers $900,000.
Following the May 2011 press event, LBREPORT.com made a Public Records Act request to see the City's grant application seeking the CalTrans-disseminated funds. In the City's grant application (Dec. 2010) seeking CalTrans-disseminated Highway Safety Improvement (HSIP) Funds, the City told CalTrans:
"To reduce injury collisions the project proposes to eliminate through traffic on MLK Avenue between Seventh and Sixth Streets by converting the roadway from a two-way to a one-way. South of Seventh Street MLK Avenue will be reduced from five lanes in two directions to only two northbound lanes. The northbound traffic will be channelized into two right-turn lanes at Seventh Street."
The City further told CalTrans: "An alternative plan evaluated by the City was to remove both northbound and southbound lanes on MLK Avenue between Sixth and Seventh Streets" and "in order to retain right-turn capacity, at this time, the City proposes only removing the southbound lanes."
The grant application went on to state in pertinent part:
To reduce injury collisions the project proposes to eliminate through traffic on MLK
Avenue between Seventh and Sixth Streets by converting the roadway from a two-way to a one-way. South of Seventh Street MLK Avenue will be reduced from five lanes in two directions to only two northbound lanes.
The northbound traffic will be channelized into two right-turn lanes at Seventh Street. North of Seventh Street MLK Avenue will become a right-in/right-out T-intersection. A channelizing island will allow westbound
right-turns onto MLK and southbound right-turns onto Seventh Street.
Furthermore, the cut-through drive from Alamitos Avenue to MLK Avenue will be closed and
replaced with a continuous median. This turning movement from Alamitos Avenue is
no longer necessary with the lane removals on MLK Avenue. Lane removal will
eliminate the pattern of injury collisions involving northbound traffic. It will also reduce
injury and property damage because the majority of collisions involved at least one
vehicle traveling northbound. Broadside collisions are widely regarded as the type of
collision most often resulting in severe injuries, so collision severity should also be
reduced...
The grant application continued:
City staff and consultants have completed two traffic studies at the project site. The
studies determined removing the southbound lanes on MLK Avenue and consolidating
the signalized intersections would provide acceptable traffic operating conditions.
Furthermore, the study showed the improvements would not result in reduced level of
service. An alternative plan evaluated by the City was to remove both northbound and
southbound lanes on MLK Avenue between Sixth and Seventh Streets. In order to retain right-turn capacity, at this time, the City proposes only removing the southbound lanes.
In summary, reconfiguring the traffic flow at the project site will address the most common injury collision patterns, broadside collisions, collisions involving northbound traffic, and collisions involving pedestrians without compromising intersection level of service. Furthermore, the City of Long Beach will leverage the safety improvement funds to create new open space in a park poor high-density area of downtown Long Beach.
The City's grant application explicitly told Caltrans that blocking off MLK entirely between 6th and 7th Streets wasn't recommended
[City of LB CalTrans grant application text]...To reduce injury collisions the project proposes to eliminate through traffic on MLK Avenue between Seventh and Sixth Streets by converting the roadway from a two-way to a one-way. South of Seventh Street MLK Avenue will be reduced from five lanes in two directions to only two northbound lanes. The northbound traffic will be channelized into two right-turn lanes at Seventh Street...
City staff and consultants have completed two traffic studies at the project site. The studies determined removing the southbound lanes on MLK Avenue and consolidating the signalized intersections would provide acceptable traffic operating conditions. Furthermore, the study showed the improvements would not result in reduced level of service.
An alternative plan evaluated by the City was to remove both northbound and southbound lanes on MLK Avenue between Sixth and Seventh Streets. In order to retain right-turn capacity, at this time, the City proposes only removing the southbound lanes.
In summary, reconfiguring the traffic flow at the project site will address the most common injury collision patterns, broadside collisions, collisions involving northbound traffic, and collisions involving pedestrians without compromising intersection level of service. Furthermore, the City of Long Beach will leverage the safety improvement funds to create new open space in a park poor high-density area of downtown Long Beach.
This led us to request a copy of what Long Beach City Hall told CA's Dept. of Parks & Recreation in seeking $2.8 million to construct the green space. Using the Public Records Act, LBREPORT.com learned that LB's Dept. of Parks & Recreation told the state Dept. of Parks & Recreation that the City planned to close MLK entirely between 6th and 7th Sts.
On April 6, 2012, LBREPORT.com reported what we described above...and three days later on April 9, 2012 (we learned via a Public Records Act request) a CA Dept. of Parks/Rec staffer emailed LB Dept. of Parks/Rec staff and asked a number of questions about the matter. An e-mail exchange ensued.
[email exchange text] 1. "Is the city still planning on converting all the lanes shown in the Prop 84 application into the .84 acre park?" LB Parks and Rec. staff responded by email: "Yes, the city is still planning on converting all of the lanes as shown in the Prop 84 application."
2. "If so, will there be any issues between the park plan (closing off the lanes) and the CalTrans grant? In other words, is the Caltrans grant for the street work in harmony with the park plan (closing off all the lanes) or is there a conflict? Please explain."
LB Parks and Rec staff responded by email: "There are no issues between the Prop 84 grant and the Caltrans grant. The Caltrans grant, independent of the Prop 84 grant, eliminates 2 of the 4 lanes of MLK at the location of the park. This grant leaves open space in approx. half of the space "to be constructed separately from the grant." The Prop 84 grant builds on the Caltrans grant and eliminates the additional 2 lanes of traffic on MLK and develops the resulting open space into park space."
On July 3, 2012, city management agendized an item seeking City Council approval to accept $2,833,281 from the CA Dept. of Parks and Rec to construct the 7th St/MLK/Alamitos "park" [in addition to $2.513,000 to develop two soccer fields and a parkway trail north of Drake Park.] Councilman Garcia commended city staff for its work. Councilman James Johnson congratulated Councilman Garcia and praised LB Dept. of Parks & Rec staff for bringing money home to Long Beach. The Council vote to approve 9-0.
[Ed. note: During the period Councilman Garcia touted plans for the less than one acre green space, the City Council (with his voted support) approved a "Downtown Plan" that invites dense high rise development but doesn't provide residents in the immediate downtown area with new park space.]
In February 2014, the City indicated in a "Preliminary Environmental Study" that the 7th/MLK/Alamitos project was "categorically exempt" from required technical studies and said public availability and a public hearing weren't required. Under "Traffic Signal Improvements" the document stated that "improvements along MLK Ave. would include updated signage and roadway striping" and a total of 47 diagonal parking spaces would be provided along MLK Avenue between 7th Street and 10th Street" and added:
It should be noted that MLK Avenue between 7th Street and 6th Street would be permanently closed to vehicular traffic as part of a separate project. This would require the removal of roadway pavement and parkway
improvements along existing MLK Avenue. Although this closure is not considered within this environmental document, the proposed roadway improvements described in the Project Description above have been designed to accommodate the closure and provide adequate circulation within the project area.
In small print among a table of items dated Feb. 2011 and included as Attachment B to the document, a single line item indicates the work to be performed for $900,000 will "reduce traveled lanes from 4 to 2, construct curb extensions and cub ramps, install crosswalks and protected left-turn lanes, remove signals, improve signal timing."
In November 2012, a "Field Review" took place. [It's unclear what agency conducted the field review, but since it focuses on traffic items we presume it was by CalTrans.] The "Field Review" said the City "proposes to develop roadway improvements" on several streets in the 7th/MLK/Alamitos area with improvements from 7th St. to nearly 10th Streets...and no mention of blocking MLK between 6th-7th Streets.
The project's "environmental review process" (under CA CEQA and federal NEPA) is over. Caltrans has given preliminary approval to engineering plans but is seeking additional information, which the City is working to submit, on the City's Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program goals.
So...since you've read this far, we're interested in knowing: are you OK with what was done? Should this be "the Long Beach way?" Let us know below or via Facebook.
