Will Rogers Memorial Park

The Will Rogers Memorial Park is a public park in Beverly Hills, California.LocationShaped like a triangle, the park is surrounded by West Sunset Boulevard, North Canon Drive and North Beverly Drive. It is across the street (South Side of Sunset) from the Beverly Hills Hotel. It covers an area of 5acre.HistoryThe park was constructed in 1912 and dedicated in 1915, becoming the first public park in Beverly Hills. It was called the Sunset Park until 1952, when it was renamed the Will Rogers Memorial Park in honor of Will Rogers, who served as the first Honorary Mayor of Beverly Hills from 1926 to 1928 and frequented the park often with his family. On May 18, 1957, a plaque was added to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Beverly Hills Garden Club.As explained on the plaque, it was rededicated in 1997, and renovated in 2005.On April 7, 1998, singer George Michael was arrested for committing a "lewd act" by Marcelo Rodriguez, a plainclothes officer of the Beverly Hills Police Department, in the restrooms of the park. The singer parodied the arrest in his video of Outside, which led the police officer to sue him for US$10 million for "humiliation, mental anguish, emotional and physical distress" because of the video.In September 2014, the fountain was renamed the Margaret J. Anderson Fountain, in honour of the first owner of the Beverly Hills Hotel.