Mountain Views News          Saturday, October 8, 2011

17

HOMES AND PROPERTY

 Mountain Views News Saturday, October 8, 2011 

One Of A Kind: Featuring unique homes and gardens and the people who create them. Story and Photos by Chris Bertrand


DREAMING BIG Envisioning a New Park and Lake at New York Drive’s Eaton Canyon Wash

“If you don’t think big, 
nothing will happen,” 
quipped Capt. John Mc 
Dannel, retired United 
Airlines pilot, NE 
Pasadena resident and 
the visionary who already 
got the Pasadena section 
of New York Drive dedicated as a memorial to 
9-11, in conjunction with the memorial event 
he and a volunteer team created last month on 
New York Drive. At seventy, Capt. Mc Dannel is 
still a do-er, thinking, envisioning and following 
through on visions of a better Pasadena.

Mc Dannel’s vision is to utilize currently 
unimproved land on both sides of New York 
Drive near Eaton Canyon Dam, approximately 
half way between Sierra Madre Boulevard and 
Altadena Drive. He dreams of developing a 
Memorial Park to remember 9-11. 

Permanent signage, estimated at $25,000, 
has already been donated by the Tamkin 
Foundation, former owners of Hastings Ranch 
Plaza, where the local Sears is located. These will 
replace the green highway signs now installed on 
the median.

He would like to see the City of Pasadena, LA 
County, Altadena, Sierra Madre and other entities 
work together to develop a 9-11 memorial park. 
It could feature a manmade lake with perhaps 
a fishing area for trout and bass, light boating, 
lakefront picnic areas, additional AYSO Soccer 
Fields, and open space rather than the vacant 
unimproved wash in its current state.

Mc Dannel reflects, “Imagine a beautiful 
park, a shallow lake and trails which connect the 
mountains all the way to the beach. Current and 
future generations would be able to enjoy these 
connected park lands, bike paths and green space 
from the San Gabriel Mountains continuing 
along the Whittier Narrows all the way to Long 
Beach.” 

This dedicated volunteer was only slightly 
daunted by the news last week, that Pasadena’s 
New York Drive Memorial was one of hundreds 
of applicants who did not receive some of the 
I-beams from the wreckage of the twin towers for 
the Memorial’s signage. After a breath or two of 
disappointment, Mc Dannel considered that this 
might be an opportunity to do something even 
more meaningful, in a different way, and is now 
considering ways to encourage other ideas or 
concepts on the signage, perhaps even through a 
competition. 

In a walk with Mc Dannel along the busy 
New York Drive roadway, he pointed out the 140 
oak trees he has already planted in the area. Mc 
Dannel and his wife still hand water the trees 
from barrels donated by E. Waldo Ward some 
years back. Those barrels get hoisted onto his 
1960’s vintage pickup truck, filled with water, 
then driven down to New York Drive. 

Beyond that, on the east side of the road, is an 
undeveloped parcel that he can already see in his 
mind’s eye as a perfect site for the Memorial Park.

On the west side of the street, Mc Dannel 
would like to see the accumulated mountainous 
debris of boulders, silt, decomposed granite and 
gravel washed downstream into Eaton Canyon 
repurposed into creating a walking/riding path 
for pedestrians, bikers and horses around a 
manmade lake. He points out that about once 
every decade, the area is scheduled for debris 
removal. Mc Dannel envisions using this decade’s 
debris to create both, instead of hauling it away 
somewhere.

The idea of a recreational or sports use is not 
without precedent. Mc Dannel points out that his 
research shows that the area was once considered 
as a site to create an Olympics venue when Los 
Angeles planned to host the worldwide games 
decades ago.

As far as new parks in Pasadena, Arlington 
Drive residents, Charles and Betty Mc Kenney, 
worked hard and long to make the empty lot 
next to their townhome into a garden and park 
for all of Pasadena to enjoy. A large estate home 
was razed there in 1962, and then the rough 
graded homesite was left to accumulate weeds 
for four decades. Today it has gone from “rather 
unlovely” in its former unkempt and weedy state, 
the Arlington Garden is now a place of tranquility 
and refuge from the city of Pasadena. So it CAN 
be done.

Sparking Mc Dannel’s hopes and dreams 
further was a Star News report in September 
noting that Peck Park in Arcadia, with a lake 
created from a former gravel pit, would receive a 
$600,000 upgrade via the San Gabriel and Lower 
Low Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy, 
plus $200,000 of in-kind amenities provided by 
the county Department of Park and Recreation. 
The little known, 210 acre park already received 
$350,000 in grants and park improvements from 
a group names Amigos de los Rios in 2009-10, per 
the same Star News report. 

The same article refers to the Emerald Necklace 
of green space, access and parks that connect 
Arcadia to the Whittier Narrows. Mc Dannel sees 
the Eaton Canyon as a link to widen that “necklace” 
to Pasadena, the Rose Bowl and beyond.In the 
white paper dated August, 2011 at the Memorials’ 
website, Mc Dannel says the Eaton Canyon park 
would provide, “A permanent Pasadena lake that 
will eventually support recreation and provide 
refuge for local wild life. There will be co-located 
facilities for bikers, horse riders, joggers and 
walkers. Creating a new lake and new recreational 
facility in Pasadena will dovetail nicely with the 
Emerald Necklace concept being developed in 
Pasadena. This exciting vision will be a lasting 
legacy to Pasadena’s heritage long into the future. 
This concept will be a complimentary addition to 
Pasadena’s legacy. These improvements will add 
valuable open space for our community, enhance 
property values and increase economic benefits 
by bringing more visitors to our lovely city.”

In response to an inquiry on the topic, 
Pasadena Mayor, Bill Bogaard, commented that 
he is interested in ... park possibilities in northeast 
Pasadena.” Further, he said, “Pasadena is in the 
final stages of completing a Parks and an Open 
Space and Conservation element of the General 
Plan… These policy documents will provide 
a framework regarding parks, open space, and 
recreation for the years ahead… My approach 
will be to use the new General Plan elements 
as a starting point for planning and decisions 
regarding parks, open space and recreation not 
only in the area of Eaton Canyon Wash, but 
throughout the City. One of the advantages of 
having a broad policy document is to facilitate 
the coordination of the community’s needs and 
opportunities, and also to assist in making a 
fair allocation throughout the community of 
resources available.”

Undaunted, Mc Dannel keeps a stack of 
business cards a couple of inches high, a kind of 
Rolodex of sorts delineating all the people he’s 
met with, from state legislators and their staffs, 
public works, planners, community coalitions, 
county engineers, Rose Bowl representatives and 
the like.

He welcomes support and interest in the park. 
Want to know more? Have an idea for funding, 
design or someone Mc Dannel to contact to 
further the cause, turning vision into reality? 
Visit www.Pasadena911Memorial.org or contact 
Mc Dannel directly at 626-600-6911.

If you don’t think big, nothing will happen.

Know of an interesting property, garden or person 
who helps create them, that might be of interest to 
our readers? Send the contact information today to 
C.Bertrand@MtnViewsNews.com. 


PHOTOGRAPHY 101

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but 
in real estate, a picture could be worth a thousand 
dollars (or more). Most agents aren’t photography 
professionals, but there is an understanding that 
better photos get listings more attention, and 
ultimately, a higher selling price.

The absolutely best photos are taken not with 
“point and click” cameras, but with SLR (single-
lens-reflex) cameras. Without getting too 
technical, just know that SLR cameras give the 
photographer more control and produce higher 
quality images. 

While an SLR camera costs more than your 
average point-and-click shooter, consider that a 
recent study found that listings with high quality 
photos sold for anywhere between $934 and 
$116,076 more than their average listing photo 
counterparts. If your agent doesn’t have an 
SLR camera, then you could easily recoup your 
investment by purchasing one yourself.

Even though better photos attract more online 
attention, only about 15% of listings make use of 
the superior technology. Obviously, high-end 
listings stand to reap the greatest benefits, so if 
you’ve got a million dollar home, why would you 
skimp on such an important facet of marketing 
it?

However, there is a caveat: the study found that 
homes listed under $300,000 didn’t see any real 
difference in sales price with the finer photos, 
so realistic and competitive pricing is the most 
effective marketing tool in those cases.


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Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com

Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com