Eight years ago, the lawn of the Pomona Civic Center was populated by dozens of homeless people camping in tents or sleeping bags, unnerving library patrons, city employees and jurors.
The opening of a 400-bed shelter in Pomona in late 2018 emptied the lawn and allowed the Civic Center to begin its comeback as a public space.
That comeback now seems almost complete after a playground and restored fountain were dedicated on a sunny Saturday morning in front of more than 300 people, many of them families.
Kids World Pomona, an all-abilities playground, has climbing structures, a spiral slide, swings and other equipment on a spongy surface to avoid bruised knees and scrapes. The playground is steps from the Public Library.
And yards away, the Civic Center fountain, which dates to the late 1960s, is spraying water for the first time in probably three decades.
The fountain and playground are a large part of $14.6 million in improvements to the Civic Center, which also include restrooms, a picnic area and better lighting, landscaping and irrigation. Missing or broken tiles in the plaza with the six-sided Pomona city logo were replaced.
I was at the dedication mostly for the return of the fountain, a subject I first wrote about in 2004.
That’s when I lamented in this space that the fountain was doing nothing more than collecting dead leaves. It was unclear then when it had last operated, but probably the mid-1990s.
That means that in its nearly 60 years of existence, it worked roughly for 30 and was broken for 30.
On Saturday, Mark Gluba, the deputy city manager, confided: “I don’t know that there’s an employee in this organization who has seen that fountain in operation.”
Reviving the fountain became an occasional subject of discussion over four mayoral administrations, but the price tag, which started at $200,000 in 2004 and only grew, scared them off.
Matt Pilarz, the city’s principal engineer, told me Saturday that many cost estimates and conceptual sketches had been generated over the years for the fountain. One concept had a statue of the Goddess Pomona in the center.
This time, the city had a state grant, American Rescue Plan Act dollars and money from L.A. County measures for parks and pedestrian access, among other sources, which made all the difference in coming up with the $1.5 million cost.
The fountain, a sort of cousin to a 1960s fountain in downtown L.A.’s Grand Park, is outwardly the same as before, with top and bottom basins. “As far as the plumbing and the nozzles, that’s all new,” Pilarz said. “All the gear had corroded away.”
A small maintenance structure yards away now houses the pumping, electrical, lighting and filtration controls, which before had been in an underground vault.
The water “is treated, as if it were a pool,” Chuck Foley, the principal architect from Hirsch and Associates, told me. (Good thing, because kids were soon splashing in it.)
During the testing phase, the spray was compared to photos from the 1960s of the fountain. The spray wasn’t visible enough. New nozzles were installed. Now, the results “match the performance on Day One,” Foley said.
I hope he isn’t all wet.
The fountain recirculates its water and will typically run from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, Pilarz said.
“The fountain is so cool to have back,” Ata Khan, the city’s deputy director of development services, told me. “It brings dignity to the Civic Center.”
The fountain was an original feature of the ambitious Civic Center, a collection of 1960s buildings that brought a new county courthouse together with a modern library, City Hall, police and fire headquarters and other offices.
The buildings were designed by Welton Becket and Associates, the L.A. firm also responsible for the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Mark Taper Auditorium and Ahmanson Theatre, all on Bunker Hill, and the Capitol Records tower in Hollywood, among other Midcentury Modern classics.
“We have the largest collection of Welton Becket buildings in the country,” Deborah Clifford of the Historical Society said during a presentation in the Council Chambers on Saturday. “We’re not always recognized for it.”
All examples of New Formalism, the buildings on pedestals “almost look like they’re floating on air,” Clifford enthused.
Joshua Swodeck, a parent who is active in community life, told me he’s watched the Civic Center’s post-encampment revival. Events for families were soon followed by outdoor programming by the library. It’s become a safe gathering place.
“And now this,” Swodeck said of Saturday’s twin dedications. “It feels like a park.”
Mayor Tim Sandoval told me the playground was inspired by one in Santa Barbara and follows the opening in 2023 of Pomona’s first all-abilities playground at Hamilton Park. (I was present for that too — which I hope doesn’t obligate me to attend future playground openings.)
“We thought as part of the playground, it was important to have the fountain functioning as well,” Sandoval said, citing “the tranquility” of hearing and seeing water flowing.
“People say government can’t do anything,” Sandoval said during his dedication remarks. “It was important for us to show we can fix this thing.”
Baby boom
Mayor Sandoval will have to put down his gavel and pick up a bottle of formula. Wife Crissy gave birth to a daughter, Annika Maya Ollalie Sandoval, at 10:39 a.m. Monday. The couple also has a son, Roy, who’s 6. Mrs. Sandoval was on her feet at the park dedication less than 48 hours before giving birth. She must be a real trouper.
License to Ill-iad
Pomona City Hall’s sweetly upbeat social media accounts posted on Monday: “the odyssey this, the odyssey that… you odyssey the new pomona park next to city hall.”
‘No. Way.’
Keanu Reeves is executive producer of the documentary “Madwoman’s Game” by chess enthusiast/director Bianca Mitchell-Avila that will screen Thursday, July 30 in Pomona. It’s part of the four-day Chicano Hollywood Film Festival at The Union, 350 N. Garey Ave. Tickets are $30.
Even wilder: Reeves himself will be present, playing Mitchell-Avila in chess at 6 p.m. and then joining her on a panel at 7:30 before the movie. Keanu Reeves is coming to Pomona? There might be a breach in the Matrix.
David Allen, a pawn in the game of life, writes Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Email dallen@scng.com, phone 909-483-9339, and follow davidallencolumnist on Facebook or Instagram, @davidallen909 on X or @davidallen909.bsky.social on Bluesky.