Edward Vincent Jr Park
700 Warren Lane, Inglewood, CA 90301
This 55-acre park is located 15-20 minutes from the City of Lawndale at the corner of Florence Avenue and Centinela Avenue; Edward Vincent Jr Park is the biggest park in Inglewood. Originally named Centinela Park, Edward Vincent, Jr. Park received its new name in 1997 to honor the first African American mayor of the city, Edward Vincent Jr. This park is developed around the Centinela Springs – a monument that is sited within the park- during the New Deal as part of the WPA. Besides the stone Centinela Springs monument, the Veterans Memorial Building can also be found within the park.
Edward Vincent Jr Park features different amenities like an Olympic size pool with its ADA-compliant bathhouse, a skate park, a walking track, baseball and softball diamonds, football and soccer fields, basketball courts, tennis courts, picnic areas, a multipurpose Girl Scouts building, five children’s playgrounds, an amphitheater, and a play house
The park’s 55-seat playhouse building was built in 1969. The theater (called the Inglewood Playhouse initially) was renamed to Willie Agee Playhouse to honor a Korean War Veteran and Inglewood parks commissioners; the theater closed its doors from 2001 to 2016 but now offers open mic nigs, acting classes, and different events organized by the Black Creative Collective and impressive performances by theater groups such as Allen Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum.