Huntington Beach dedicates Memorial Hall, 17th Street Park

American Legion Post 133 has a renovated home, and Huntington Beach residents have plenty of space at a new park alongside it.

City officials on Saturday celebrated the new 17th Street Park and Memorial Hall with a dedication ceremony.

Both the hall and the 2.01-acre park sit on the land formerly occupied by the Michael E. Rodgers’ Senior Center, which was demolished earlier this year.

American Legion Post 133 color guard Dennis Bauer, center, folds an American flag after the dedication ceremony on Saturday.

(Kevin Chang / Staff Photographer)

The Rodgers’ Senior Center’s days were numbered when Huntington Beach opened the Senior Center in Central Park in 2016. But in 2020, the Huntington Beach City Council approved a plan to redevelop the Rodgers’ Senior Center site.

A nearly $2.4-million contract was awarded in December 2021 to Legion Contractors Inc.

Memorial Hall is the old outreach building at the Rodgers’ Senior Center property.

Russ Dohrmann, American Legion Post 133 commander, speaks during a dedication ceremony for the new 17th Street Park and Memorial Hall on Saturday.

(Kevin Chang / Staff Photographer)

The 17th Street Park includes a big lawn, as well as landscaping and picnic benches and is the 79th park within the city’s boundaries.

Visitors were invited to tour Memorial Hall after a dedication ceremony for the new 17th Street Park and Memorial Hall on Saturday morning in Huntington Beach.

(Kevin Chang / Staff Photographer)

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