KHTS Radio Santa Clarita Radio – Santa Clarita News
The Santa Clarita City Council decided to add “in memoriam of Gracie Muehlberger and Dominic Blackwell” to the Central Park signage during their regular meeting Tuesday in honor of the Saugus High School shooting victims.
At their meeting Tuesday, the Santa Clarita City Council made the decision to add “in memoriam of Gracie Muehlberger and Dominic Blackwell” to the Central Park signage after testimony from family and members of the community.
While the City Council approved the naming, the SCV Water Agency will also have to approve the design, as they have ownership of the land upon which Central Park was developed.
The councilmembers remarked they support the idea of adding Gracie and Dominic’s names to the name of Central Park but also wanted to impress that renaming the park is not enough to memorialize the two.
The decision was made after both Bryan Muehlberger and Frank Blackwell spoke during the public comments section of the meeting, along with several other residents, advocating for the dedication of the park to the two teenagers.
“My son would have been 15 (years old) in September,” Blackwell said. “We are exhaustively (sic) pleading the City Council to formally rename Central Park… I have been without my son for 40 weeks.
I cannot convey to you the endless void of that loss. It is around me every single day.”
Frank Blackwell continued to say Central Park is where his family met City Councilmembers for the first time, who claimed if the Blackwells needed anything to just ask.
“So we are asking,” he concluded.
See Related: Memorializing Saugus High Shooting Victims
“Central Park is where we stood side by side in solidarity,” Blackwell added. “We made a promise to never forget, it is our greatest wish to honor that promise. This park is where Dominic learned to ride a bike… and where our families visit to find temporary solace.”
The push to dedicate Central Park in memory of Gracie and Dominic began back in July, when the Muehlberger and Blackwell families created a petition to have the City Council vote and approve the dedication of the park from its current name of “Central Park” to “Central Park – In Memoriam of Gracie Muehlberger and Dominic Blackwell.”
The park served as the reunification point for Saugus High students and their families on the day of the shooting, as well as the site where 15,000 people gathered for a vigil in honor of the victims, the largest gathering in the history of the Santa Clarita Valley.
“We’ve renamed other parks,” Muehlberger said in a previous KHTS story. “Central Park is where everything occurred and represents everything to us, the kids at Saugus were there with their families on the day of, their phones and backpacks still at the school. The first memorials were built at Central Park, the vigil was at the park.”
The agenda for Tuesday night’s meeting listed several options for the City Council to consider, including dedicating Central Park in Gracie and Dominic’s honor; renaming a different City park, constructing a memorial at the entrance to Central Park, expanding the current Youth Grove to include a separate memorial, identifying a different site at Central Park for a memorial, or designing a memorial to be placed in a future expansion of Central Park.
Muehlberger noted that although the City has potentially offered one of the 34 other City parks in the community, the families agree that Central Park holds the most significance from the events immediately after the shooting.
“No other park has the same significance, i was that place in our community,” he said. “If we had gathered elsewhere for the vigil it would be a different story, but Central Park is where it all happened in the community.”
Other ways of memorializing Gracie and Dominic were suggested, including the involvement of Santa Clarita’s Arts Commission to incorporate an installment of a monument of some kind in the future. This decision is to be brought back to the Council for public comment.
Councilmember Marsha McLean offered the idea of a park bench donning a memorial to the two teens near the park’s entrance as well.
The City Council voted unanimously to add Gracie and Dominic’s names to Central Park and for additional memorialization in the future.
Ed. Note: Michael Brown contributed to this report.
Sponsored Articles
KHTS FM 98.1 and AM 1220 is Santa Clarita’s only local radio station. KHTS mixes in a combination of news, traffic, sports, and features along with your favorite adult contemporary hits. Santa Clarita news and features are delivered throughout the day over our airwaves, on our website and through a variety of social media platforms. Our KHTS national award-winning daily news briefs are now read daily by 34,000+ residents. A vibrant member of the Santa Clarita community, the KHTS broadcast signal reaches all of the Santa Clarita Valley and parts of the high desert communities located in the Antelope Valley. The station streams its talk shows over the web, reaching a potentially worldwide audience. Follow @KHTSRadio on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
This is overkill renaming the park. Grieve as you may but don’t foist your grief on the community.
Why don’t they have something in Saugus High instead. If you’re going to rename or add a name to a park do it for a Veteran instead.
I am thrilled that the council voted as they did. I I also found the following interesting and remind our residents and readers here in that we have funded statuettes of people representing our city, as one can see on Town Center Drive. I would suggest that we have the figures of both Gracie and Dominic created and put on that park bench or in stances dressed in their favorite recreational or Sports uniforms.
‘Councilmember Marsha McLean offered the idea of a “park bench” donning a memorial to the two teens near the park’s entrance as well.
I’m not aware of any statues for people from our city. A statue of these two is a bit much. The park already will have an addition to it’s name making it quite a long park name. Let’s remember them but also note that sadly many others have been murdered and not had parks named after them.
A Santa Clarita R
Lets remember Gracie and Dominic, I our prayers and in our hearts. I can’t imagine the pain in their parents , relatives and the community, I don’t agree on adding their names to the park or statues. A bench with their names will be ok .
Looks like the squeaky wheel got its way again. I feel very bad for the parents but it looks like they were out there constantly asking for a memorial I think they “want to see their name in lights” so to speak. What about all the others killed here. So if you keep insisting that your loved one being either a firefighter, police or other killed in the line of duty have a memorial in a park you might get your way.