Breaking ground for the Chittick Field Renovation, L-R: City Manager Pat West, Parks, Recreation & Marine Director George Chapjian,Terri Grant, LA County Watershed Division; IlonaVolkmann, LA County Park & Open Space District; Karen Chittick, daughter of Cilve Chittick; 6th Distric Councilmember Dee Andrews, Mayor Bob Foster, Marilyn Surakus, Public Works Project Manager, and Don Norford, Long Beach Poly Football. Photo courtesy of City Manager’s Office.
Construction is already underway on the rennovations at Chittick Field after last Saturday’s groundbreaking inspired hope for the future of the underutilized space once known as the Hamilton Bowl.
Located north of Pacific Coast Highway on Walnut Avenue and within a mile of over 70,000 residents, the space was initially created in 1936 as what the City calls a flood detention basin which collects excess runoff from water sources. In 1950, recreational purposes were added to the field and throughout the decades, has continued to grow to offer various amenities.
Though ambitious plans for a $140 million Kroc Center for the site fell through in 2010 when $20 million in local funds could not be raised, the groundbreaking on Chittick Field is for the first fully funded phase of a County-sponsored project that will turn the land into a state-of-the-art football, soccer and track and field facility.
The $4.3 million phase calls for multiple soccer fields, additional parking and other amenities that focus on physical health and spaces for local school athletics teams to practice. Future plans for Chittick Field include an array of track and field venues, including spaces for javelin, pole vault, long jump and triple jump competitions; two youth soccer fields and one adult soccer field will also be added.
Because the space will continue to be used as a flood control system, the bowl itself will be regraded and upgrades will also be installed to help the efficiency of the drainage system.
“We are taking land that was only used episodically for flood control and turning it into what’s going to be the jewel of central Long Beach,” Mayor Bob Foster said at the groundbreaking.