I-210 Freeway Sign Bill for the Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial Passes State Committee

A bill that will request the State Department of Transportation to install a sign on Interstate 210 to direct motorists to the Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial has passed the Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing with unanimous support.

The bill, Senate Concurrent Resolution (SCR) 25 which was introduced by Pasadena-area Senator Anthony Portantino, passed with 13 votes and no abstention and has now been referred to the Committee on Appropriation with a recommendation for adoption.

“The Pasadena Armenian Genocide Monument is a site of religious and cultural commemorations by the Armenian community in southern California,” Portantino said when he filed the bill in February. “Installing a freeway sign will help direct visitors to the memorial, raise awareness about the Armenian Genocide and serve as a reminder that fighting crimes against humanity is an ongoing process and requires our continuous attention.”

The bill passed just as Armenians the world over commemorate the Armenian Genocide of 1915 this month.

“Just a few short days ago, at the Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial, we commemorated the 102nd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide,” Portantino said in a recent statement. “Hundreds of community members came to the memorial to pay tribute to the victims and to remember the lessons learned from the first genocide of the twentieth century. This kind of community commemoration makes accessibility to this memorial so important. I am proud to carry this legislation that will install a freeway sign to help direct visitors to the memorial, and I am happy to have the unanimous support of my colleagues along the way.”

Portantino said installing a freeway sign will help direct visitors, raise awareness about the Armenian Genocide and serve as a reminder that “fighting crimes against humanity is an ongoing process that requires our continuous attention.”

According to the resolution, Caltrans will install the informational signs on the Fair Oaks Avenue exit of the I-210 “upon receiving donations from non-state sources” enough to cover the cost of construction and installation.

The Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial, in April 2015, is located in the northeast corner of Memorial Park in Pasadena and honors the martyrs of the Armenian Genocide and all victims of crimes against humanity. It was constructed by the nonprofit Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee with unanimous support from the Pasadena City Council. Portantino served on the board of the nonprofit prior to joining the State Senate, the only non-Armenian to have served on the Board.

Portantino represents nearly 930,000 people in the 25th District, which includes Pasadena, Altadena, Atwater Village, Bradbury, Burbank, Claremont, Duarte, Glendale, Glendora, La Cañada Flintridge, La Crescenta, La Verne, Lake View Terrace, Los Feliz, Monrovia, Montrose, San Dimas, San Marino, Shadow Hills, Sierra Madre, South Pasadena, Sunland-Tujunga, and Upland.