TO: HISTORICAL COMMISSION
FROM: LAURIE KOIKE, INTERIM COMMUNITY SERICES DIRECTOR
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THE POSSIBLE RE-NAMING OF THE FLAGLER AND RIPLEY PARKETTE
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recommendation
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RECOMMENDATION
Receive, file and provide a recommendation to the City Council regarding the possible re-naming of the Flager and Ripley Parkette
BACKGROUND
The Flagler and Ripley Parkette abuts Flagler Lane, Ripley Avenue and Spreckels Lane. The .34 acre greenbelt is located across from Jefferson Elementary and is a popular park location for residents living in the surrounding neighborhood. Chair Maroko has been searching this area for possible locations for historical murals and speaking with residents who are knowledgeable about the early history of the area. The following story of the Ito Family was shared with Chair Maroko:
Tomo and Kimi Ito were longtime residents of Redondo Beach. Their family owned the property at 1902 Havemeyer since the 1930s, at a time there were few houses in that part of North Redondo, the site of Jefferson elementary was a pig farm, the streets were unpaved, and they lived just a block from the open space.
Tomo Ito (1909-1986), became an Eagle Scout in 1927, graduated from Stanford University with a bachelors in geology in 1932 and a masters in geology from the same school in 1933. Herbert Hoover, who was President of the United States at the time of Tomo's education was also a Stanford geology graduate. Tomo, like Hoover, was a mining consultant.
Kimiko ("Kimi") Ito (1914-2017) lived in Redondo beach for 99 years. Her parents, Joe Takao Sakai and Vera Ume Sakai, immigrated from Japan in 1902. The family settled in Redondo in 1918. Kimi graduated from Redondo Union High School in 1931.
In 1942, Kimi and Tomo married and were sent to the Poston-Colorado River Relocation Center in Arizona. Poston was the largest of the ten internment camps created by the U.S. War Department during World War II. Her father, who had serve...
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