Athletes joined city officials Saturday morning to dedicate four public soccer fields in Griffith Park to Los Angeles youth.
Olympian Tamara Christopherson, U.S. Soccer star Cobi Jones and International Olympic Committee Member Anita DeFrantz unveiled the first phase of a restoration effort to the 26-acre Ferraro Fields soccer complex.
The $10.5 million restoration is a private-public partnership led by the LA Parks Foundation, the City Department of Recreation and Parks and the LA84 Foundation.
Four of the fields are dedicated to youth soccer and feature long-lasting synthetic turf, which will save 9.5 million gallons of water annually.
An estimate of 171,000 youth soccer players will use the field year-round, up from about 7,500 before the project.
The next and final phase of the restoration will feature an additional three adult regulation-size fields for adults, along with updated lighting, pathways and parking.
The fields are named in honor of former City Council President John Ferraro, who cast the deciding vote in support of the city's 1984 Olympic bid.
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“The lasting impact of the 1984 Olympic Games shines in the Ferraro Fields project,” DeFrantz said.
