Morrow Grove: Rooted in Legacy
Transforming underutilized land into a vibrant culturally rooted park for all of District 4
Initial Vision Renderings
The Vision
Morrow Grove is a community-driven effort to create a new kind of park—one that brings together green space, cultural identity, and shared experience. Designed to reflect the people of District 4, it will offer places to gather, play, learn, and remember.
At it's heart and core is honoring Willie Morrow, a man who helped bring pride and resilience to our black neighbors during the civil rights movement, and who desired better for his community.
Mr. Morrow was a visionary, who knew how to tell a story, and take care of his neighbors. He knew the importance of community, and self-care, and the value of the written, spoken and sung word to instill pride, courage, fortitude, and perseverance in a neighborhood that needed to be validated, heard, respected and seen as equal.
That is why we see this park as having a California Curl botanical garden that welcomes residents in with it's aromatic scents, and teaches the community about natural hair care. We desire residents to get a sense for what it was like to sit in the chair, and spend time with the man who touched the lives of so many people from Southeast San Diego, and across the world as he taught Navy barbers worldwide how to properly steward black hair.
Cultural Design
Morrow Grove is further designed to honor the rich multicultural heritage we have here in District 4 by creating educational gardens that showcase the amazing plants that our different ethnic cultures have used for centuries for hair and body care. As a city that can so easily be divided, these is a commonality that can help unite us.
African Heritage Garden
Latinx Heritage Garden
Vietnamese Heritage Garden
Filipino Heritage Garden
Chamorro Heritage Garden
And no cultural gardens would be complete here in Southern California without a formal land acknowledgement garden recognizing and honoring the Kumeyaay Indians.
This Heritage Garden would sit at the highest point of the park and oversee it in its entirety.
Why Neighborhood Park Creation is Involved
The property owner has expressed a willingness to work with the community to preserve the land for something greater. Neighborhood Park Creation is helping to carry that vision forward—working to secure the land and transform it into a space that reflects, serves, and honors the community.
With limited public funding available, this effort depends on the support of people who believe in creating something lasting for future generations.
Opportunities Like This are Rare!
Once this land is developed, it cannot be reclaimed for community use. But together, we have the chance to preserve it—and create something that will serve generations to come.
Re-imagining the Radio Towers Site
The historic Radio Towers site represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform a large, underutilized space into a vibrant public destination for the community. Neighborhood Park Creation is working to bring this vision to life by re-imagining the site as a multi-use park and community hub that blends recreation, culture, and history.
A Vision for Community and Historic Legacy
The Radio Towers Project is designed to serve the city at scale, creating a space that supports:
recreation and wellness
cultural expression
city wide gathering
education and events
This is more than a park—it is a place where history, identity, and opportunity come together.
What This Project Can Become
The vision includes:
A signature park and open green space
Community recreation facilities
Cultural and event spaces
A tribute to the historic Radio Towers
Opportunities for local business and programming
Why This Matters
San Diego has not developed a new city-scale cultural park in generations.
Today, major holidays, events, and cultural gatherings are concentrated in a few central locations like Balboa Park and downtown—places that are often overcrowded and difficult to access for many residents.
For communities in District 4, participating in these experiences often means traveling across the city, paying for parking, and navigating large crowds. At the same time, the economic activity generated by these events remains concentrated outside of their neighborhoods.
The Radio Towers site presents an opportunity to change that.
By creating a new city park in southeastern San Diego, we can expand where and how people gather—offering more accessible, meaningful places to celebrate, connect, and experience culture. At the same time, this investment helps bring economic activity, opportunity, and visibility into the communities that have historically been under-served.
This is not just about creating a new destination.
It is about creating a more balanced and inclusive future for the city.
Join Us in a Greater Vision
One Concept Design
