Runners Return to Hollywood Reservoir

To the delight of joggers, walkers and cyclists, the pristine Hollywood Reservoir reopened this week after being closed to visitors as a precaution against terrorism in the wake of the Persian Gulf War.

“It feels great to be back here,” puffed Amy Ness, a film industry location manager, as she ran around the 3 1/4-mile perimeter of the reservoir in the Hollywood Hills. “It’s like an old friend. I’m glad to have it back.”

As she ran in the damp early morning air Tuesday, the greetings to others were the same: “Hi.” “Welcome back.” “Isn’t it wonderful?”

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power closed public access to the popular spot six weeks ago as an anti-terrorist measure after the U.S.-led military coalition began its bombardment of Iraq. The DWP posted signs, locked gates and stationed security guards to prevent intruders from entering the leaf-shaped lake.

DWP officials reasoned that the reservoir, which was also closed during the 1984 Summer Olympics here, could be targeted because it feeds drinking water to more than 400,000 city residents.

With the halt in fighting, DWP spokeswoman Dorothy Jensen said that officials decided late last week to permit public access to the reservoir. The recent downpours, however, caused some minor mudslides and flooding on some of the perimeter concrete paths, delaying the reopening until Monday, she said.

On Tuesday, despite the threatening skies, the lake attracted several dozen people to listen to chirping birds and take in the surrounding wooded beauty. Over the weekend, more than 1,000 runners and others are expected.

Ness, 39, wondered how she did without the reservoir as she prepared for the Los Angeles Marathon, which she finished Sunday in 4 hours, 16 minutes.

“Well, I ran at the beach and the hills around the reservoir,” she said as she sped through her 30-minute run around the lake. “Actually, I did a lot more hills than I would have if they hadn’t closed the reservoir.”

To the runners, the reservoir’s allure is simple to explain. Except for an occasional car on a road at the lake’s northeast corner, runners and non-runners don’t have to contend with traffic. They say the worries and noise of urban sprawl seem far away.

“It’s just so quiet up there,” Ness said. “You’d never think the big city was just minutes away.”

Hollywood book publisher Bob Adjemian, 43, who runs 60 miles a week, said a reservoir run is the perfect medicine to help combat the maddening pace of the world’s movie capital.

“This is already a chaotic day. I’m glad I ran there this morning,” he said at noon.

Some of the regulars groused about the reservoir’s closing. After all, one sarcastically recalled, it was the lake’s dam that was pulverized by a fictional killer tremor in the disaster epic “Earthquake.”

“It was a futile gesture,” one cyclist complained. “They were forced to do it.”

But Lowell Stanley, the DWP employee who lives rent-free at the reservoir and acts as the lake’s maintenance man and guardian, was glad for the precautions. And he was happy to have it reopened.

“Where else in L.A. can you see that?” he said, motioning to the reservoir’s placid surface.

Near the wooded shoreline, a perfect reflection of the Hollywood sign could be seen.

“And we’re only five minutes from the city.”