Keep the Green Simple, Keep it the Village Green

Birds was one of the ideas for a public piece of art. Many suggested that the town’s parrots be featured. Others suggested dolphins, yet others suggested not adding a sculpture to the park.

Marge Gold, who was the President of the nonprofit Village Green for 12 years, joined the Village Green Board in 2004. In a letter to CTN she wrote “I think the Village Green should be refreshed by rebuilding the shed that housed all the systems.  That shed had the timers for sprinklers, lights, fountain, etc.  It doesn’t need a gazebo or a monument to 1/7 – the Palisades Fire –  let that be somewhere else.  Let’s return the Green to its original purpose…To maintain in the heart of the community an attractive comfortable space where people can meet others, have a snack or simply sit in the shade to read or relax.”

That view was expressed by many readers, including one who wrote “Perhaps we could persuade the Village Green to support this pedestrian bridge (from George Wolfberg Park to the Will Rogers Beach Parking lot) and hold off adding more ‘stuff’ to our little village park.”

Brief Village Green History Recap

Initially the land was created as a park that faced this historic Business Block building.

That park land was converted to a Standard Service station in 1945, there are photos of the gas station that showed at the time gas was 36 cents a gallon.

In 1972, Standard Oil decided not to renew its lease. The newly organized Pacific Palisades Community Council established a five-member Village Green Committee and signed a lease giving the committee an option to buy the land — if it could raise the necessary funds. Starting in October that year, nearly $70,000 was raised. About $46,000 was used to purchase the land and the rest of the money went to park development.

The Palisades Village Green was certified as a California nonprofit and formally dedicated on August 17, 1973.

In a 2022 story, CTN reported that the treasurer at the time Bob Gold told the Optimist Club in a presentation that the annual budget from October 1 to September 30 is about $24,000.

Annually, they pay about $3,000 to DWP, $3,300 for gardeners, $1,500 for insurance, $1,600 for fountain upkeep and $7,000 to take care of the trees.  Rodent removal (the Green uses a company, Veratech, that uses live traps – not poison) is $1,700, landscaping is $1,000 and trash pickup is $3,600.

During the Palisades Fire, the Village Green was left unscathed, with the exception of damage to a shed on the little triangular park, which also caused the trunk of a pear tree to be damaged.