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At the entrance to the Zuiderpark, on Veluweplein, there are two gentlemen. In bronze, that is, and only their heads are depicted. On the plaque on the right is a portrait of S.G.A. Doorenbos, on the left we see P. Droogleever Fortuijn. The fact that their portraits adorn the entrance to this large park with sports facilities for the entire city is unmistakably related to the role they played in its creation. Whereas Droogleever Fortuijn encouraged sport and play for all sections of the population, Doorenbos was important for the planting and realisation of Zuiderpark.

Simon Doorenbos (1891-1980) succeeded Pieter Westbroek in 1927 as director of the municipal planting service. If Westbroek had designed the park together with the garden architect Dirk Versteeg, Doorenbos came up with the plants that would be used in it. In addition, in the crisis years, he supervised the job-seekers who actually laid out the park.

But Doorenbos was not only important as director of The Hague's Municipal Planting Service. He is also known as a good tree and plant expert. No wonder he was the co-founder of the Dutch Dendrological Society in 1924. This association promotes the naming of woody plants at nurseries and disseminates knowledge about their use in gardens, public greenery and landscape.

Doorenbos was president of the Dutch Dendrological Society from 1928 to 1962. Because of his merits for dendrology and for the association, the association board asked the Rotterdam sculptor Willem Verbon to design a medal and a plaque for Doorenbos. The medal for members of merit, the plaque for the entrance to the Zuiderpark. Verbon, who is especially known for his figurative sculptures, often of historical figures ('Wilhelmina' (1998) and 'Eramus' (2001), Kop van Zuid Rotterdam), provided a realistic and well-similar portrait. On 14 April 1978, the plaque was unveiled in the presence of Doorenbos.