East Meets West: Japanese Garden Lends Serenity to Sewage Plant

The 6 1/2-acre Japanese Garden in Van Nuys’ Woodley Avenue Park is bordered on the northern end by authentic wooden buildings, complete with floor mats and low-slung wooden tables.

On the western side, less traditionally, it is bordered by a sewage plant.

The resulting mixture of tranquility and sewage treatment was formally unveiled Tuesday, when the City of Los Angeles held the first of a regular series of tours of the garden at the $78-million Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant on Woodley Avenue.

Nationally Known Architect

Designed by Koichi Kawana, a nationally prominent environmental architect, the $3-million garden was built to beautify the grounds of the city’s newest sewage plant, which opened late last year.

Kawana, who has designed extensive Japanese gardens in St. Louis and Chicago, said the project is the first of its kind in the country.

The garden is modeled after the vast promenades favored by Japanese feudal lords in the 18th and 19th centuries. Built around a series of interconnected lakes, the garden features imported stone lanterns, elaborate waterfalls and a variety of bonsai-style plants. Pathways lead past elaborate rock gardens and over a variety of symbolic Japanese bridges.

Ponds of Treated Water

The bridges cross concrete ponds filled with treated water from the sewage plant, built on an 88-acre site leased from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. And, in the middle of the garden, a grass-covered mound conceals sewage diversion machinery.

On Tuesday, the garden drew several dozen visitors, including city officials, gardening clubs and curious passers-by.

Tours of the garden will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8:30 a.m. and can be arranged by calling the Tillman plant offices at 818-989-8166.