The Region - News from Jan. 2, 1987

A plan to cover a city reservoir at Elysian Park with a 7.1-acre roof was challenged by a citizens group and the Center for Law in the Public Interest, who claim the corrugated aluminum structure would be an eyesore and would not significantly improve water quality in the reservoir. Their Los Angeles Superior Court suit seeks to order the Department of Water and Power to prepare a full environmental impact report on the project, designed to meet state health officials’ concerns over the city’s drinking water supply. The 1,500-member Citizens Committee to Save Elysian Park claims there are less environmentally damaging ways of improving water quality at the lake, which is surrounded by jogging paths, picnic areas and wildlife nesting areas. The four-foot-high roof “is going to look like a big old factory,” attorney Carlyle Hall Jr. said.