North Hollywood sites renamed in honor of outgoing Councilman Paul Krekorian

The Los Angeles City Council renamed two sites Wednesday in the North Hollywood area in honor of former Council President Paul Krekorian, who turned over the gavel last week and will be termed out in December after serving nearly 15 years as representative of East San Fernando Valley communities.

Council members unanimously approved a motion to rename the Victory Valley Childcare Cfernter and the Valley Plaza Sports Fields as the Council President Paul Krekorian Child Care Center and the Council President Paul Krekorian Soccer Fields. Ceremonial signs will be erected at a future date.

Seven council members introduced the motion last Wednesday, the same day Krekorian led his final council meeting. Krekorian stepped down from his top roll in a move to transition leadership to Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson, who took over the gavel last Friday.

“Since joining the City Council, nearly 15 years ago, Paul Krekorian has led the way on issues of economic development, sustainable energy and the environment, curbing gun violence and removing bureaucratic obstacles to increasing the city’s housing supply,” the motion reads.

Krekorian was the first council member to create Tiny Home Villages and a Homeless Services Navigation Center for unhoused residents in his Second District, encompassing areas of Sun Valley, North Hollywood, Studio City, Valley Village, Van Nuys and Valley Glen.

The child-care center at 6451 Saint Clair Ave. in North Hollywood is city-operated, offering free or low-cost preschool programs to working families, and a facility that Krekorian made his mission to restore and reopen.

Krekorian also spearheaded the development of the soccer fields at 6980 Whitsett Ave. The project created a field for people with disabilities, added new lighting, security systems, expanded the parking lot, and added new bleachers and shade structures.

Voters elected the former state Assemblyman to the council in 2009. Krekorian chaired the council’s budget committee and led the city in recovering from fiscal challenges related to the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic. He’s a longtime advocate for the environment and for ending oil and gas drilling in Los Angeles, and initiated the city’s LA100 initiative to achieve 100% carbon-free electricity by 2035.

In late 2022, council members elected Krekorian as president following the resignation of former President Nury Martinez, who was recorded in a conversation with two other council colleagues that included the use of racial slurs by Martinez.