Venice Canal Renovation Plan Modified
The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday approved a slight modification of the city’s $3.2-million project to renovate Venice’s historic canals.
The modifications, recommended in a supplemental environmental impact report, include softening of the hard edge of the concrete banks, possibly by rounding the lip or adding landscaping, said Yvette McFrazier, aide to City Councilwoman Pat Russell.
“We want to avoid the swimming-pool effect,” McFrazier said.
The modifications also call for a commitment by the city to eventually restore all the artistic details, including the gentle sloping design of the banks, in a portion of the historic canals, McFrazier said.
The original city project called for replacing the crumbling, sloping canal walls with vertical concrete walls.
The canals, built by real estate developer Abbot Kinney in the early 1900s, have fallen into disrepair or were paved over during the last several decades. Residents have been trying for more than 20 years to restore the six remaining waterways.
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