Camarillo reopens reimagined Dizdar Park, highlighting Chumash heritage and local donors

Cam arillo City Manager Greg Ramirez welcomed attendees at the re-grand opening of Dizdar Park in Old Town Camarillo, praising city staff and private partners for completing the multi-year renovation and acknowledging the site's history. "It's been a long journey, but as you can see, it's turned out amazing," Ramirez said as he thanked staff, neighbors and project partners.

Ramirez framed the redesigned park as part of the city's historical fabric, noting the site sits on the historic homeland of the Chumash people and recounting the location's evolution. He said the land later served as Pleasant Valley Cemetery, which fell into disrepair by the early 1900s, and that local civic leader Hassan Mike Dizdar led efforts to relocate the cemetery and provided funding through his will to ensure the project was completed after his death in 1943. Ramirez named Jonathan Pichardo as the project manager and publicly thanked Goodale Architecture, Ardelan Construction, Flippin Engineering and KPFF Engineers for their roles on the project.

The city manager also noted that Adolfo Camarillo donated a small adjacent parcel for a fire station and that those parcels became Camarillo Park before later being renamed Dizdar Park. Ramirez called attention to local ties to the site by mentioning Sue Anderson Mitchell, the granddaughter of Camarillo's first fire captain, Eugene Putnam, and described personal memories at the former fire station.

Ramirez thanked the neighbors and businesses of Old Town for their patience during construction and said the renovated park is meant to remain "a gift for Camarillo" where people can gather informally. On behalf of the Camarillo City Council and city staff, he closed by welcoming the public to the newly reimagined Dizdar Park and thanking everyone who contributed to the project.