By Jorge Casuso
September 15, 2026 – The Olmsted Network, which champions the legacy of the landscape architect who designed New York City's Central Park, will honor the work of two local organizations spearheading the efforts to build a "Great Park" in Santa Monica.
Comprised of more than 150 park advocacy non-profits and conservancies, the organization will present its 2026 President’s Award to the Santa Monica Airport2Park Foundation and the Santa Monica Great Park Coalition at its annual dinner September 25 in Portland, Oregon.
The two groups have been spearheading the effort to build a 192-acre park on land that will become available when Santa Monica Airport closes on December 31, 2028.
The groups will be recognized for their ""outstanding work demonstrating how community vision can shape the next great American park" and "help ensure that Olmsted’s vision of ‘Parks for All People’ becomes a reality in Santa Monica,” said Olmsted Network President Sue Breitkopf.
In "park-deficient Santa Monica," the Network stated, the Great Park Coalition "has united residents, organizations, and civic leaders around the restoration of a large 'great' park," reflecting "Olmsted’s belief that every community deserves access to inspiring public green space.”
Considered the father of American landscape architecture, Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903) was "a multi-faceted visionary and social reformer" whose firm designed Central Park, Boston’s Emerald Necklace, the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, and thousands of other landscapes, the Network noted.
Olmsted also had a major impact in California, designing master plans for UC Berkeley and Stanford University and helping originate a conservation movement that protected Yosemite Valley in perpetuity and safeguarded public access.
In 1864, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Yosemite Valley Grant Act that granted the valley to the State of California and protected it for public use and recreation for the benefit of future generations.
The Airport2Park Foundation and the Great Park Coalition have been leading advocates for creating a "generational" plan to build a "Great Park" in Santa Monica and have fought efforts to earmark a portion of the Airport land – which was originally acquired through a 1926 parks bond -- to build 3,000 affordable housing units.
“The award is national recognition that the Santa Monica community’s vision of reclaiming the airport site for its original park purpose reflects the ideals that the Olmsted Network champions,” said Neil Carrey, president of the Airport2Park Foundation.
John Fairweather, president of the Santa Monica Great Park Coalition said the award offers "a great opportunity for both organizations to gain insights from the Olmsted Network’s advocacy toolkit, and to potentially connect with other national resources and donors.
“We hope this will become a long-lasting relationship for our City as the Great Park is built and becomes an essential part of our community,” Fairweather said.