The Altadena Town Council tabled a motion to endorse a sign on the bridge at Altadena Drive and New York Drive that would commemorate 9/11.
John McDannel, a Kinneloa Mesa resident, former military pilot and retired pilot for United Airlines, has embarked on a several-year crusade to turn the stretch of New York Drive between Altadena Drive and Sierra Madre Boulevard into a tribute to the victims of 9/11. The ambitious project has already borne fruit, with the medians turned from hardscape to native plants, crowned by 180 trees he has personally planted and watered. His plans include turning the Eaton Wash Dam area into a park where Pasadena can move all of its war memorials. His project has been endorsed by multiple service organizations and he’s received considerable help from the city of Pasadena.
While it’s a project in Pasadena, a potential bump in the road involves a monument sign to appear on the median around the Eaton Wash bridge, on the Altadena border. McDannel wants signs on either end of that stretch of New York Drive to tell drivers it’s a 9/11 tribute. However, Altadena has been looking at the bridge location to put in a “Welcome to Altadena” monument. Los Angeles County has agreed to put “Welcome to Altadena” monuments at various entrances to town, although no design has been agreed to. And the median can only hold one sign.
Town councilwoman Diane Marcussen, who represents that census tract, said that, while she was “all for a project to memorialize 9/11, I am extemely concerned about the design of the sign being the same as what we’re going to do in the rest of Altadena.” For homes in Altadena with a 91104 zip code and Pasadena mailing addresses, “it’s tough enough to be identified with Altadena,” she said.


The Altadena Town Council tabled a motion to endorse a sign on the bridge at Altadena Drive and New York Drive that would commemorate 9/11.
John McDannel, a Kinneloa Mesa resident, former military pilot and retired pilot for United Airlines, has embarked on a several-year crusade to turn the stretch of New York Drive between Altadena Drive and Sierra Madre Boulevard into a tribute to the victims of 9/11. The ambitious project has already borne fruit, with the medians turned from hardscape to native plants, crowned by 180 trees he has personally planted and watered. His plans include turning the Eaton Wash Dam area into a park where Pasadena can move all of its war memorials. His project has been endorsed by multiple service organizations and he’s received considerable help from the city of Pasadena.
While it’s a project in Pasadena, a potential bump in the road involves a monument sign to appear on the median around the Eaton Wash bridge, on the Altadena border. McDannel wants signs on either end of that stretch of New York Drive to tell drivers it’s a 9/11 tribute. However, Altadena has been looking at the bridge location to put in a “Welcome to Altadena” monument. Los Angeles County has agreed to put “Welcome to Altadena” monuments at various entrances to town, although no design has been agreed to. And the median can only hold one sign.
Town councilwoman Diane Marcussen, who represents that census tract, said that, while she was “all for a project to memorialize 9/11, I am extemely concerned about the design of the sign being the same as what we’re going to do in the rest of Altadena.” For homes in Altadena with a 91104 zip code and Pasadena mailing addresses, “it’s tough enough to be identified with Altadena,” she said.