MARINA DEL REY'S ADMIRALTY PARK TO BE RENAMED IN HONOR OF SUPERVISOR BURKE

 

NEWS FROM DON KNABE

Supervisor, Fourth District

County of Los Angeles

822 Hahn Hall of Administration

 

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MARINA DEL REY’S ADMIRALTY PARK TO BE RENAMED IN HONOR OF SUPERVISOR BURKE

Los Angeles, November 18, 2008 – In honor of her decades of community service and upcoming retirement, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved renaming Admiralty Park in Marina del Rey as Yvonne B. Burke Park.

The name change, proposed by Supervisor Don Knabe, honors Supervisor Burke’s 16 years of service representing the Second District. In his proposal, Supervisor Knabe also cited Supervisor Burke’s many firsts, including becoming the first African-American elected to the Board, and devoting her entire professional life to public service, whether as an elected official, an attorney, or as an official of the U.S. Olympics Organizing Committee.

Today’s motion is actually the second proposal to name Admiralty Park after Supervisor Burke. During her original appointment to the Board of Supervisors in 1979, representing the Fourth District, she was instrumental in advancing the development of a park running along Admiralty Way in Marina del Rey. With park construction completed just after she left office the first time, the Board of Supervisors approved naming it the “Yvonne Brathwaite Burke Park.” However, soon after, a recommendation was made to honor her service by renaming of the Health Services’ West District office to the “Yvonne Brathwaite Burke Health Center.” Determining that this was a more fitting tribute to Supervisor Burke due to her interest and work in the health field, the Board of Supervisors adopted this subsequent recommendation and rescinded its earlier order, instead naming the Marina del Rey Park as “Admiralty Park.”

“Supervisor Burke has a deep personal attachment and commitment to Marina del Rey dating back nearly 30 years,” said Supervisor Knabe. “I am proud to honor my colleague and my friend by finally and permanently renaming this park with the name it should rightfully have.”

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