On Saturday, Oct. 17, from 1 to 4 p.m. at Memorial Park Gymnasium, the City of Santa Monica will show the Illustrative Master Plan for the airport land. According to the City, the plan shows how the future park will be organized and how people will move through it. It builds on the draft Framework Diagram released in February. The plan is not starting from scratch. Between Feb. 18 and Apr. 26, the City's online survey collected 4,206 responses to a draft layout of eight districts. Those responses already show where people agree. Every district cleared majority support. The trees, trails and ball fields drew the most. The districts that carry cafés, food halls and civic buildings drew the least, and they drew the most opposition.
So the open question for Oct. 17 is how much of the park gets built on.
What the City Put in Front of Residents in February
The draft Framework Diagram, dated February 2026, split the site into eight named districts. It gave the western half a calmer character and the eastern half a more active, regional one. The diagram's pages are image-heavy. The clearest written guide to where each district sits comes from the Santa Monica Great Park Coalition's walkthrough, published in April. The coalition is an advocacy group that wants all 192 acres kept for park and park-serving uses, so its reading is one side's account of a draft.
In that reading, here is the layout:
- Immersive Nature fills the west end, with urban forest, restored habitat, wildflower meadows, a possible community farm, and wetlands or ponds for stormwater capture.
- Active Sports takes the far east, with multi-use fields, diamonds, courts, and possibly an aquatic center, a skate park or an ice rink.
- The Stroll sits on the footprint of today's Clover Park as the park's front door, with paths, a dog park, community gardens and lawns.
- The Meadow lies just south of The Stroll, built around a large lawn for local events, with a possible adventure playground and outdoor classrooms.
- Arts & Culture runs along Airport Avenue on the south side.
- Urban Edge lines Ocean Park Boulevard on the north side, reusing existing structures for things like a youth and senior center, daycare, library, cafés and a beer garden.
- The Lawn follows the old runway as a broad open space. Its signboards would tell the story of Clover Field, the 99s and Amelia Earhart.
- The Heart is the civic hub where the districts meet, with the possibility of a non-aviation transit center.
The design team is led by Sasaki, a firm of landscape architects, planners, urban designers and architects.
How Each District Scored
The survey summary, released in July 2026, asked about each district's location and its proposed uses, then combined the answers into an overall support figure.
| District | Overall support | Opposition to proposed uses |
|---|---|---|
| The Stroll | 74.3% | 12.6% |
| Immersive Nature | 72.0% | 12.8% |
| Active Sports | 70.7% | 14.2% |
| Arts & Culture | 69.5% | 16.9% |
| The Lawn | 67.4% | 19.4% |
| The Meadow | 67.3% | Not asked as a uses question |
| Urban Edge | 61.4% | 20.1% |
| The Heart | 59.6% | 20.6% |
The top three are the districts built mostly from soil, trees and turf. The bottom two are the districts built mostly from buildings and programs. The Heart, with its civic core and possible transit center, and Urban Edge, with its library, daycare, cafés and beer garden, each drew about one-fifth opposition to their proposed uses. The Lawn sits close to them at 19.4%. It is open space, but it is the district planned for events and emergency staging, which may explain the higher number. The survey summary does not give the reason.
The gap gets wider when the City's own residents are separated out. Among Santa Monica respondents, support for The Heart fell to 58.3% and opposition to its uses rose to 22.9%. Respondents from adjacent Los Angeles ZIP codes backed The Heart at 65.0%. Urban Edge followed the same pattern: 59.9% support from Santa Monicans and 65.5% from neighbors across the city line. The people closest to the land, by address and by vote, were the most cautious about building on it.
What the Written Comments Added
The percentages are averages. The open comments show the disagreements underneath. The most common theme was active recreation: fields, youth sports, a skate or pump track, pools, courts and playgrounds. Comments on food and commerce were split. Some respondents wanted cafés, restaurants, markets and beer gardens. Others worried those features would make the park overbuilt or less peaceful. Comments from Santa Monica residents asked for "more trees, shade, immersive nature" and less built or commercial space. Some of the same residents said the proposed sports area was already too large.
So the largest single request, more playing fields, conflicts with the second, more trees and quiet. Both conflict with the cafés and civic buildings at the center of the plan. The master plan has to choose how much acreage each one gets.
The direction did not appear out of nowhere. In July 2025 the City Council voted 6–1 to study a park-centered scenario focused on ecological restoration and adaptive reuse. A housing-inclusive alternative failed 3–4. In June 2026, the Council accepted more than $10.5 million in state and county grants for planning and development, according to Santa Monica Next. That total includes $10 million from Proposition 4.
"The airport land belongs to the people of Santa Monica, and its future should be decided by them," Mayor Caroline Torosis said in the City's Oct. 6 announcement.
The District That Already Exists
One of the eight districts already has buildings and tenants in daily use. Arts & Culture was drawn around the cultural venues already on Airport Avenue: Barker Hangar, the Ruskin Group Theatre Arts Center, the Airport Arts Center studios and the Museum of Flying. The framework calls for reusing existing buildings in this district and in Urban Edge. The draft materials do not say which hangars or studios will stay. Even so, it is the one building-heavy district with something residents can visit before Oct. 17.
Those venues have been busy this fall. On Sept. 24, the Museum of Flying extended its Thursday-to-Sunday hours to 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Operations director James Roberts told the Santa Monica Daily Press the museum expects to stay open after the airport closes, without its connection to active airspace. Barker Hangar hosted The Other Art Fair from Sept. 24 to 27, with 160 independent artists. At the Airport Arts Center, Propeller Gallery ran "Between Darkness and Dawn" at Studios 3026 on Airport Avenue through Sept. 27.
Aviation ends at midnight on Dec. 31, 2028, under the federal consent decree. The City reaffirmed that date in September 2025. Construction comes later. A June staff report projected that grant-funded design work would begin in spring 2027 and that a design-services contract would go to the Council in winter 2026–27. Those dates are projections, not commitments.
Between Now and the Next Round
For anyone who wants to see the site before weighing in, or follow the plan after Oct. 17, here are the dates on the calendar:
- Oct. 17, 1 to 4 p.m.: The master plan reveal at Memorial Park Gymnasium, with perspective drawings of key views and time for feedback to the project team.
- First and fourth Sundays, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.: The Santa Monica Airport Antique Market, rain or shine, never on a fifth Sunday, $5 admission. Check the market's site before going. The City's airport page lists the antique markets on an interim open space among the airport's current uses.
- Oct. 29 to 31: The WestEdge Design Fair at Barker Hangar.
- Any day: Airport Park, four acres with a synthetic-turf field, a playground, picnic areas, and separate large- and small-dog areas. It is a small working preview of the uses the survey ranked highest.
- Nov. 16, 18, 19 and 23: A second round of reviews by the Sustainability, Planning, Recreation & Parks, and Airport commissions. The project site lists these dates as drafts, to be confirmed.
People who can't attend on the 17th can still see the plan and comment at those commission meetings and through a new online survey.
A park of this size will shape the surrounding blocks for decades. That includes the frontage along Ocean Park Boulevard, the streets near Airport Avenue, and the homes facing what is now Clover Park. If you own near the airport land and want a clear read on how the master plan could affect your property, The Salazar | Bunnell Group follows each phase closely, with an eye for design and for value. Our Santa Monica neighborhood page is a good place to start, and we are glad to talk it through.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
