By Lookout Staff

May 11, 2011 – The next park in Santa Monica may be Santa Monica itself.

That's the idea behind “The City as Arboretum,” a document to be discussed next Tuesday at a public forum cosponsored by Santa Monica's Recreation & Parks Commission and the city’s Urban Forest Master Plan Task Force.

“Making the City an Arboretum involves adding and extending our thinking of what trees we plant, where we plant them and why,” said Recreation & Parks Commissioner Richard McKinnon.

“It creates a forever and ongoing discussion about the landscape we live in,” McKinnon said.

“The City as Arboretum is a deeply powerful concept that resonates to its citizens,” Recreation and Parks Commissioner Dryden Helgoe and McKinnon write in their proposal which involves planting diverse trees to create a city-wide landscape.

“The Arboretum will have a physical center which will correspond to the geographic heart of Santa Monica. The Arboretum will embrace and encompass our cities streets, freeway and parks to make a unified whole.”

David Brown, Executive Director of Descanso Gardens and Santa Monica Community Forester Walt Warriner will join Helgoe and McKinnon at the forum.

The forum will begin at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 17. It will be held at the Thelma Terry Auditorium at Virginia Avenue Park at 2200 Virginia Avenue.

Those interested in more information are encouraged to read the recently issued concept paper on the subject, now available online at www.smgov.net/ccs/rpc.

The Thelma Terry Auditorium at Virginia Avenue Park is wheelchair accessible. To request a disability-related accommodation, please call Community & Cultural Services at 310-458-8310 or email ccs@smgov.net at least 3 business days in advance. Virginia Avenue Park is served by Big Blue Bus lines 7 & 11.