The Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation on Friday announced plans for a new Eaton Canyon Nature Center with design elements aimed at making the structure more resistant to damage or destruction from wildfires.
Architects and wildfire protection experts unveiled the new design plans Wednesday at the “From Ashes to Action” panel discussion and public presentation at the LA County Arboretum in Arcadia.
The proposed horseshoe-shaped “curvilinear” building includes an open-air interior courtyard, sprinklers on the roof and eaves, a fire-resistant stone and steel exterior, curved walls designed to divert windblown embers and slow strong wind gusts, on-site water tanks and other fire-resistant features, county officials said. The design and location were developed with community input and consideration of wildfire resiliency and the canyon’s historic, tribal and cultural legacy.
Architects Anne Mooney and Ludwing Juarez of Sparano + Mooney Architecture presented the design to over 100 attendees at the panel event Wednesday.
Fire resiliency was a central consideration because wildfires in the canyon have destroyed two previous nature centers, officials said.
“Everyone in this room is here today because we all care deeply about the future of Eaton Canyon,” Mooney said at the presentation. “We all share that passion. And as our team began working on this project, we were asked a fundamental question: How do we build back better?”
Mooney said the research and community feedback resulted in a “nature center that is more resilient, more responsive to the realities of our changing environmental conditions and more protected and prepared to serve future generations.”
County Parks Director Norma E. Garcia-Gonzalez said Eaton Canyon attracts nearly 1 million residents and visitors annually and described the nature center and natural area as an important ecological and community resource.
“Eaton Canyon holds a special connection for so many — whether they come to hike, find respite from the pace of daily life, spend time with family or explore and learn about nature,” LA County Parks and Recreation Director Norma García-González said in a statement. “During the pandemic, we saw firsthand how Eaton Canyon became a place of refuge and respite for people across Los Angeles.”
The plan for the new center incorporates 100 years of fire, wind and flood patterns to help inform site selection and design elements.
“This is our strategy: We are going to go fast because we need to tell our story,” García-González said. “We need to understand what was lost and what it will take to build back. And we are going to go deeper. This re-envisioned nature center will build on Eaton Canyon’s legacy as one of the county’s most popular outdoor destinations, welcoming nearly one million residents and visitors each year.”
Clark Stevens, director of resource design at the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains, said structure protection is crucial during high-wind incidents that prompt “red flag warnings” against the threat of fast-moving fires. The county is vulnerable to hazardous red-flag days with its combustible combo of high winds and low humidity.
“You can’t have ignition starts on those days,” Stevens said, while also noting that the region annually experiences about seven or less red-flag days annually.
Assemblyman John Harabedian, D-Pasadena, helped secure $16 million in state funding for reconstruction of the nature center, which Garcia-Gonzalez said is about half of the project’s funding.
Officials are working with the Los Angeles County Parks Foundation to cover the balance via fundraising and and assistance from philanthropic organizations and businesses.
The next “From Ashes to Action” panel is set for Oct. 7 from 5-7 p.m. at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, 301 N. Baldwin Ave. in Arcadia. The discussion will focus on Eaton Canyon landscaping.
The Eaton Canyon Nature Center destroyed in the wildfire last year was located at 1750 N. Altadena Drive in Pasadena. It was not immediately clear if that same site will house the rebuilt facility.
The devastating Eaton Fire in January 2025 claimed 19 lives and destroyed or damaged more than 10,000 structures, Cal Fire reported.