The fire truck playground at the southeast corner of Ventura Boulevard and South Glenn Drive is there because a fire station stood on that same ground for decades. The fire station is also the newest of three uses that land had before the playground went in. The oldest one is a cemetery, and part of it is still there.
Dizdar Park reopened on March 21, 2026, after a renovation and expansion that grew it to 1.7 acres. The City says 1.7 acres was also the size of the cemetery the park started as. So after almost a century of being split up, the land is back to the size it was at the start, and the new design marks each stage in between.
It started as a church cemetery
The City of Camarillo's history of the park says the story began in the 1890s. That's when the Davenport family donated land for the Pleasant Valley Baptist Church and a cemetery next to it. The Heritage Days stop for Dizdar Park names it the Pleasant Valley Cemetery and puts its founding in 1874.
By the 1920s and 1930s the cemetery had fallen into disrepair, the City says. The Heritage Days account describes the trade-off the town faced by the mid-1940s: a neglected cemetery, and children with no park to play in.
1929: part of the land goes to a fire station
The parcel was first split in 1929, when Juan Camarillo bought the unused portion of the cemetery from the church. A fire station was later built on that piece. In a March 2022 story about the demolition, the Ventura County Star described the station as 81 years old.
The rebuild cleared out that later layer. The Camarillo Acorn reported that the expansion included tearing down the former fire station and a vacant office building. That land is how the park grew from the roughly one acre it had been to the 1.7 acres it covers now.
Mike Dizdar's offer
The park carries the name of Hasan "Mike" Dizdar, an immigrant from Yugoslavia who came to America as a young man. According to the City, he served in World War I, returned to Camarillo, and bought the Camarillo Café. He also took over and built out the town's water system, which made it possible to build citrus and walnut packing plants.
In 1941 he offered the church a deal. He would pay to move all burial remains to Ivy Lawn Cemetery in Ventura if the church got the families' consent, took back ownership of the land, and deeded it to Ventura County as a permanent park. The church agreed. Some families chose to leave their relatives where they were, knowing the land would become a park.
Dizdar died in 1943, before the work was done. His will provided the money to finish it. After that, the land passed through several owners:
- December 1954: the Ventura County Board of Supervisors accepts the deed.
- 1965: the land transfers to the Pleasant Valley Recreation and Park District.
- 2011: the City of Camarillo buys it.
- June 2024: construction on the renovation and expansion begins.
- March 21, 2026: the rebuilt park opens.
The groundbreaking was Wednesday, June 26, 2024, and Ardalan Construction Company was the contractor.
How the new park shows each layer
With that history in mind, the features of the rebuilt park line up with the different eras of the site.
- The fire station shows up in the playground. The City calls it fire station-themed, and Heritage Days calls it a firehouse-themed playground honoring the site's historic fire station.
- The park's whole history is on Oxnard artist Elisa Torres's "The Story of Dizdar Park." The four painted steel panels show key figures and moments from the park's past, and the work was commissioned through the City's partnership with Studio Channel Islands Art Center.
- The town's founding families are represented by the statue of Adolfo Camarillo on horseback, which stayed in place through the rebuild, along with the El Camino Real bell.
- The civic years are marked by the former Chamber of Commerce's Pillars of the Community and the donated bricks, which also remain.
The fire truck playground was not a given. When the City Council talked about the reopening on March 25, Council Member Kevin Kildee credited former Council Member Jan McDonald with the original idea for the equipment, the Camarillo Acorn reported.
"I have yet to see a fire truck playground quite like that. I was scratching my head when I first heard the idea, but staff was able to pull that off. There is something for everybody there."
In the same meeting, Mayor David Tennessen thanked Community Relations Officer Peter Castles for his extensive research into the Dizdar family history, done to make sure the grand opening reflected the park's heritage. Council Member Susan Santangelo pointed to the view across the park toward St. Mary Magdalen church and said, "I hope it becomes an integral part of our community for a long time." The Acorn called the project a $9 million "legacy investment."
What the park has hosted since March
The new bandshell and stage are the biggest change from the old park, and they were in use from the first day. The City's March 21 opening celebration included performances by the Camarillo Community Band and Voices of Channel Islands Youth Chorus, children's art activities, and remarks from Mayor Tennessen.
In July the park hosted a free public screening of the World Cup. Visit Camarillo advertised viewing at Dizdar Park for the July 18 third-place match and the July 19 final. The Camarillo Acorn later reported that the park held a viewing party and fan event on July 19.
Council Member Tony Trembley's advice in March to anyone who hadn't visited yet was to go, especially for the public art and the playground, which he said "is incredibly popular with the kids."
Before you go
The City lists these basics for the park:
- Location: southeast corner of Ventura Boulevard and South Glenn Drive, Old Town Camarillo
- Hours: sunrise to sunset daily
- Restrooms: open during park hours
- Picnic tables and BBQs: first come, first served
- Parking: an on-site lot plus plenty of street parking
- Other amenities: a water fountain and bottle-fill station, mature shade trees, an open lawn, and accessible pathways
The City's page also explains how to reserve the park for special events.
A December walk that starts at the park
Two holiday evenings next month take place on the same stretch of Old Town, close to the park. The Camarillo Merchant Association's Old Town Glow Holiday Walk runs Saturday, December 5, from 5 to 8 p.m. along Ventura Boulevard. The next Saturday, December 12, the association's Old Town Glow Pop-Up Holiday Village fills Studio Channel Islands Art Center at 2222 Ventura Boulevard from 4 to 9 p.m. with vendors, food, carolers, snow, Santa and live music. Studio Channel Islands is also the art center that partnered with the City on Torres's panels in the park.
To learn more history on the way, Heritage Days has a series of numbered self-guided stops. Dizdar Park is Stop 13. Stop 12 is the Firehouse and Stop 14 is the Lewis and Sons Building. Starting at the Firehouse and ending at the playground covers two parts of the fire station story in one short walk.
People in Camarillo often ask Debbie what's behind the places they see every day, and Dizdar Park has one of the town's better answers. If you own a home near Old Town and want to know how it fits into the neighborhood around it, Debbie Curran can walk you through it. Request a Free Home Valuation and she'll start with what's near your street.
