Columbia Park, Torrance, California

Recreation and sports Columbia Park includes six soccer fields, two baseball diamonds, and a roller hockey rink. The park also includes a walking path which is divided by a fence line to the east of the main soccer field into a west section and a 0.57-mile (0.92 km) east section. In addition, the park has a jog path that serves as a flat, exercise trail and competitive cross country running racecourse. The heavily used soccer fields include lights for night play. Community gardening Columbia Park features a Community Garden providing planting beds and 'community' for residents. It is one of twelve county-operated Smart Gardening Centers around the region. Columbia Park additionally serves as home to the Home Garden Learning Center, and is a backyard composting demonstration center provided by Los Angeles County. ==History==

Columbia Park was conceived in 1970 and built in 1983. In 1985, the park's designer, Paul Saito, received an achievement award for the design and installation of Columbia Park. Phase one Columbia Park first was conceived by former Torrance City manager Edward J. Ferraro. In 1970, Ferraro acquired of U.S. Navy surplus property for $250,000 to build Torrance's Wilson Park. In 1975 the state of California agreed to provide funds for the development of Columbia Park. The park, located adjacent to an ExxonMobil oil refinery, Columbia Park was opened in 1983 as a Torrance recreational regional park with large grassy expanses. The sculpture, entitled "Fujimihara", presently resides in the southwest corner of Columbia Park. On Sundays at Columbia Park, Ajax and the other women's teams played as many as 16 games on four fields from September to April. In 1984 Landscape designer Paul Saito returned, to redesign Columbia Park to include walking paths and running trails, adding exercise challenges and aesthetic enjoyment. After receiving of San Diego, California, Saito had the park laid out according to his plan, Phase three In 2000, plans were made to increase the number of parking spaces serving the park users. ==Tree dedications - urban forest==

On April 22, 1995, a tree was planted in Columbia Park by The Friends of Madrona Marsh to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Earth Day. Cherry blossom trees During the summer of 2001, the Buddhist association Soka Gakkai International USA donated the cost of 100 Cherry blossom trees to the city of Torrance as part of Torrance's Living Tree Dedication program that began in 1993. The plan for the program was to plant 10 cherry trees at Columbia Park as part of a ceremony each year for ten years beginning in 2001. Living Tribute Trees program The Torrance Living Dedication Tree Program is coordinated and by the City, so that families, individuals, and groups can sponsor the planting of a new tree in the park to honor a person or commemorate an event with a living tribute Tree Dedication. ==Park challenges==

Sail-Skating The long, winding cement walk pathways and usually vacant parking lots of Columbia Park quickly became a popular place for skate sailing in the mid-1980s. In the summer of 1985, a sail skater was clocked by a police radar gun doing 40 miles per hour (64 km/h) inside the park. One of the gang members fired a gun that hit a bystander. and homeowner complaints about "non-residents" using the basketball court and causing trouble. Torrance officials sought to improve security and took the unusual step of closing the park's basketball court by removing the basketball rims and padlocking the entry to the court. In November 2000, a suicidal man with a gun was shot once in the stomach by police sharpshooters as he stood next to a pay telephone outside a public restroom near Prairie Avenue, ending a seven hour standoff. In August 2003, two police officers attempted to arrest two people in Columbia Park who drove a car reported stolen. After 100 of their friends surrounded the police officers, 20 Torrance and Redondo Beach police officers swarmed Columbia Park to assist in the arrest by breaking up the crowd. The city added decomposed granite as part of fixing the problem, by draining water off the new raised sections. In response to concerns about children playing on the firetruck it was fenced off. In 2007, the city's Open Space Committee met to discuss the feasibility of adding city dog parks. Later in 2007 the Committee had determined the only area large enough to accommodate a divided area for both large and small dogs was the Southern California Edison easement at Columbia Park. The plan required Southern California Edison needed to approve the proposal, and start-up costs of at least $50,000. At that same meeting, the Dog Obedience Club of Torrance asserted that a Torrance Dog Park could bring potential liability to the city through dog fights, dog caused injuries, and spread of diseases and that the money would be better spent on the city's animal shelters. By a voice vote, the city council agreed that a dog park was not an essential element of Torrance's city park system. ==See also==