Refilling Hansen Dam Lake Gets Flood of Support : Recreation: The Army Corps of Engineers hopes to return the area to what it was before the late 1970s--one of Los Angeles’ largest parks.

The waters of Holiday Lake at Hansen Dam Recreation Area were once so inviting that Teddy Treadwell and her family bought a boat, took up fishing and even moved to the east San Fernando Valley to be near their favorite park.

But their lakeside lifestyle was ruined in the late 1970s when the 140-acre lake, the centerpiece of a thriving regional park, was choked by years of silt accumulation and neglect, reducing it to a muddy pond. When the water vanished, so did the throngs of visitors and the park degenerated into a homeless encampment. This week, however, East Valley residents expressed hope that the park can stage a comeback, voicing overwhelming support for a plan by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build lakes and undertake a sweeping revitalization that would transform the area back into one of the largest parks in the city of Los Angeles.

Along with a 10-acre lake that would be used exclusively for swimming, the plan calls for renovation of the sprawling 1,400-acre Lake View Terrace site with hiking and horseback riding trails, a wildlife preserve, playing fields and the eventual development of two 15- and 70-acre lakes connected by a stream.

“We’ve been waiting for this park and lake to come back for years. It’s been the most important issue for many of us up here,” said Treadwell, 65, of Shadow Hills. “We are thrilled to get anything at this point. It was devastating for us when the lake was shut down.”

After years of clamoring from East Valley residents, who viewed the loss of the popular recreation site as a slap to the community, Rep. Howard Berman (D-Panorama City) pressured the Army two years ago to draft a long-term plan to revitalize the area.

In the meantime, about $875,000 in state and federal money has been set aside to build the swimming lake, scheduled for completion in early 1993.

Also, in Los Angeles County, Proposition B, a $816-million park bond measure, would allocate $15 million specifically for Hansen Dam renovation if voters approve the measure.

Park proponents are also praying for rain.

“If the drought continues, we have no idea where we will get the water to fill the lake,” said Frank Catania, director of planning and development for the city Recreation and Parks Department. “We are hoping for a big rain in the next three years.”

Although the Army owns the site, built in the 1940s to control rain runoff and collect silt washed down from the San Gabriel Mountains, it leases the land to the city parks department.

Jackie Tatum, assistant general manager of the parks department, said the city is committed to maintaining the renovated park, which would be built in phases depending on the availability of local, state and federal money.

The Board of Recreation and Park Commissions and the Army are expected to complete and approve the Hansen Dam Master Plan within three months.

To prevent the devastating silt buildup that choked the lake a decade ago, officials plan to relocate the new lake on higher ground and run a contract with a private company to continuously dredge the area.

A series of brush fires and winter storms in the late 1970s clogged the lake with millions of tons of sand and debris. Dredging operators were brought in too late to save it. In 1982, all that remained of Holiday Lake was a swampy puddle. A protracted legal dispute between the Army and dredging operators prevented plans for restoration of the lake until recently.

With the promised resurgence of the lake, residents hope the park will attract thousands of families again and represent a renaissance in the East Valley, which has been troubled by growing crime and gang problems.

“I think it’s about time we start investing in this community,” said Napoleon O’Neal, 74, who has lived in Pacoima for 40 years. “We don’t have anything up here for all the new people that are moving in. We need that lake so the new kids can swim and fish like mine used to.”