This weekend, I was joined by Costanso Street neighbors and West Valley residents who braved triple-digit temperatures to celebrate the opening of the new Costanso Fire Station 84 Park. We dedicated the park in honor of the brave men and women who served the San Fernando Valley from the small firehouse at the corner of Canoga Ave. and Costanso St. for more than 60 years.

Our friends at United Firefighters of Los Angeles City were on-hand with MOAB: the Mother of All Barbeques, to grill hundreds of hot dogs while families enjoyed the new park which includes a fire truck themed playground under the cover of newly installed shade sails.

Fire Station 84 operated at the corner of Canoga Ave. and Costanso St. from 1949 until being relocated to a new location in Warner Center in 2007. The vacant fire station remained unused and became blighted, overgrown with weeds and a place where illicit activity occurred. ln 2013, shortly after I was elected to the Los Angeles City Council, I undertook a massive community outreach effort to determine the future use of the site and began working feverishly to transform the area. After two years of hard work and community input, we have transformed what was a blighted piece of land into an incredible neighborhood resource the whole City can be proud of.

Special thanks to Costanso neighbor Steve Mintz who helped serve hot dogs to hungry kids and families and who has, along with Janis Hatlestad and so many others, joined me at every stage of our community outreach effort to determine the future of the old fire station. Thanks also to representatives from our Neighborhood Council, Scott Silverstein and Dennis DiBiase, as well as Diana Williams from the West Valley ~ Warner Center Chamber of Commerce, for being constant champions for the community. And a big thank you to Chief Daryl Arbuthnott, UFLAC Director Adam Van Gerpen, our LAFD grill masters, and all the firefighters of LAFD's Valley Bureau for joining us to help make it a special day.