What is the WPRA?
The West Pasadena Residents' Association is an all-volunteer organization of the residents of southwest Pasadena dedicated to maintaining and enhancing the character of southwest Pasadena and the quality of life in Pasadena.
Your membership, contributions and volunteer support are key to the WPRA's success. All activities of the WPRA are funded through membership dues and contributions. The WPRA receives no public funding or other monies and has no paid employees. The WPRA does not endorse or otherwise support or oppose candidates for public office, and no WPRA funds are spent in support of or in opposition to candidates.
Become involved! See the links on the left for information on joining, donating, or volunteering with the WPRA.
We are pleased to display some of the work of local artist Joseph Stoddard on our web site. To learn more about the artist click here.
The Latest
NFL at the Rose Bowl? (Jan 2012)
The potential for a National Football League (NFL) team using the Rose Bowl stadium as a home
field — while its permanent stadium is built — continues to enliven discussions throughout Pasadena, and especially in West Pasadena.
To find out what West Pasadenans think about a temporary use of the Rose Bowl by the NFL, the WPRA mailed a questionnaire to 5,700 households in the WPRA service area and emailed a link for an online version of the survey to the nearly 1,000 subscribers of Neighborhood Update, the WPRA’s weekly eNewsletter. We received over 1,200 responses.
Overall results are shown in the accompanying chart. Click here for more detail.
Road Closures for Marathon Feb 19 (Jan 2012)
The Pasadena Rock 'N Roll 1/2 Marathon will be held on a senic route through Pasadana Sunday morning, February 19, 2012. Roads along the route will be closed starting at 6:30 am. Roads will be reopened as the race passes them. Click here for a route map and a detailed list of road closures and estimated times each road segment will be reopened.
City Decides to Retrofit Fire Station 39 (Jan 2012)
Due to seismic safety concerns, the City of Pasadena earlier this year closed Fire Station 39, at 50 Avenue 64. Following a nearly year-long series of what proved to be unacceptable proposals to solve the short and long-term issues raised by the station shuttering, City Council finally arrived at an acceptable long-term solution: retrofitting and rehabilitation of the existing station. Finding the short-term solution, as of this writing, continues to elude the Council.
The long-term solution
As part of the initial station design process, City Planning staff discovered that the existing fire station — an example of Mid-Century Modern architecture — was eligible for designation as a landmark building and considered an important work of architect Frederick Kennedy Jr.
Given this, Council on Dec. 12 approved the seismic retrofitting and rehabilitation of the existing facility. The groundbreaking on the retrofit, however, remains nearly a year away. The cost of retrofitting the station is estimated at $2.4 million. $500,000 will come from the City’s General Fund and $1.9 million will come from the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) fund, a re-appropriation of money originally earmarked for other capital projects.
The City is said to be considering a public safety-facility bond, but may wait until after the November elections to put the idea to a vote. Such a bond could reimburse the CIP fund, which would preclude the City from having to defer other priority projects.
Rose Bowl Renovation Underway (Mar 2011)
The $152 million Rose Bowl renovation project approved by the City Council last year started on January 10, 2011. Construction will be complete in time for the 100th Rose Bowl Game, January 1, 2014.
New Rose Bowl Renovation Roundup. In March, 2011, the Rose Bowl Operating Company started publishing a newsletter to let the community know what's been going on, what's on deck, and some surprises. View the newsletter here.
WPRA and other neighborhood organizations are working with the Rose Bowl Operating Company to minimize affects of the construction activity on our neighborhoods.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) about construction and mitigations has been developed and approved by Rose Bowl Operating Company, East Arroyo Residents Association, Linda Vista Annandale Association and West Pasadena Residents Association. The MOU focuses on areas of potential impact, and how they could be mitigated, and also outlines a communication process between neighborhood organizations adjacent to the Rose Bowl and the Rose Bowl construction management team.
For information on the renovation, please go to www.rosebowlstadium.com or you may contact Rose Bowl Event Manager, Abie Bacon at (626) 577-3101. In addition, you can contact WPRA (click on "contact us" in the left margin) or Takako Suzuki, our (District 6) City Council Field Representative.
Sign Up for Pasadena Fire Alerts through Pasadena Local Emergency Alert System (Mar 26)
The City of Pasadena Fire Department has implemented a system for sending emergency and other urgent messages to community members through text and voice messages. The Fire Department urges community members to sign up for the system, called PLEAS (Pasadena Local Emergency Alert System). Click here for details and sign-up.
This is in addition to the Pasadena Police community information service, Nixle, which provides routine (rather than emergency) information releases. Click here for Nixle information and sign-up.
For more information, visit http://cityofpasadena.net/Fire/PLEAS. Please direct all inquiries to PasadenaLocalAlert@cityofpasadena.net.
Check Out Updated Crime Statistics (thru October 2011) and Recently Reported Incidents
Neighborhood safety was a key concern expressed in our recent resident survey. The WPRA Neighborhood Safety Committee is continuing to work with Pasadena Police Department and other agencies on these issues.
The WPRA is a 501c3 non-profit public benefit corporation. Membership contributions and donations are fully deductible to the extent permitted by law.
