Fullerton is revamping the front door of its oldest park and adding another way in.

A few days after unveiling a $1.6 million, 467-step pine forest stairway connecting the 38-acre Hillcrest Park to Lions Field, the City Council approved a $3.9 million project that will restore Hillcrest’s fountain and great lawn.

The park has been the target of restoration efforts for years.

Artist renderings of the latest upgrades show the great lawn flush with grass and the 90-year-old fountain working again.

Also, a new bridge over the Brea Creek Channel will connect the front of the lawn to Harbor Boulevard – Harbor’s sidewalk is expected to be widened up to 15 feet as part of the project.

Artist renderings of a new bridge slated to connect the front of Hillcrest Park’s great lawn to a widened Harbor Boulevard. (Courtesy of the city of Fullerton)

Artist renderings of a new bridge slated to connect the front of Hillcrest Park’s great lawn to a widened Harbor Boulevard. (Courtesy of the city of Fullerton)

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Artist renderings of a new bridge slated to connect the front of Hillcrest Park’s great lawn to a widened Harbor Boulevard. (Courtesy of the city of Fullerton)

The Fullerton City Council recently approved the second phase of Hillcrest Park’s restoration project. An artist rendering shows the great lawn and fountain restored. (Courtesy of the city of Fullerton)



Nice as the pictures look, several residents opposed the addition of the bridge, citing safety concerns with its proximity to a busy street and its distance from parking lots.

Mayor Bruce Whitaker, who has been wary of adding more hardscape to the park, and Councilman Greg Sebourn voted against including the bridge in the project.

City staffers have said park-goers could leave their cars in the Ralph’s lot across the street to access the bridge. In renderings, there is a fence in the middle of the widened sidewalk meant to prevent children from running into the street.

City leaders envision a promenade where the bridge meets the sidewalk, with new street trees and bollards – the vertical posts often seen in parking lots to keep cars from crashing into structures.

But several residents contend that stretch of Harbor doesn’t get enough foot traffic to warrant a bridge. Some, including Whitaker, have called it “a bridge to nowhere.”

Councilman Doug Chaffee has referred to the bridge as a “focal point,” not meant to be the park’s main access way.

“This is Fullerton’s signature park,” Councilwoman Jennifer Fitzgerald said earlier this month. “This is our oldest park, and it should be our gem. This community has worked for so long and to be finally at this time … is so exciting for our city and our parks.

“This grand entrance into the park with the focus on the fountain is exactly what the front door to our park should look like.”